Never Look Back On The Steps You're Taking
by Ireland Maslow
Summary: Kendall is a troublemaker whose parents can't stand him. He gets sent to live with his aunt, uncle and cousin, Logan. Logan has a lot of junk going on in his life. What happens when Kendall discovers dark secrets of Logan's? Will he start to care for his nerdy cousin? Kendall's confused of what to do. Will he do something to help Logan before it's too late? NO SLASH!ABUSE!CUTTING!
1. Welcome To Tennessee

**Okay, so I know I have three other stories going and I really need to update them, but I am severely stuck on ALL of them right now. I'm sooo sorry to those who read them! I'm really trying to get something out and slowly getting there. I'm still working on them and getting it done paragraph by paragraph so it'll take a little time to get anything out in my other stories. I'm so sorry. The idea for this story has been swirling around in my head for a few months now. I got the idea after my mom threatened to send my older sister to live with our Mammaw (grandma) for awhile until she straightened up. I'm not going to go into detail about what was going on with my sis, but mom got fed up with her being involved in the wrong crowd. She didn't do anything real bad though. Anyway, I hope everyone likes this story and I'll probably be updating this faster than my other stories, but I promise my other stories WILL be updated as soon as I can get something done! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize in this story. I don't even own the story name! I got that from a line in Manafest's song Never Let You Go. Which is my favorite song of his! I recommend everyone go listen to that song! **

**Kendall's POV:**

"Excuse me, are you Logan Mitchell?" I asked a guy standing and waiting for someone who was getting off a plane. He shook his head.

"No, I'm not, sorry. Are you having trouble finding the person who is picking you up?" The guy asked, I just nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll find hime though. Thanks," I said and then walked away. I had been sure that was him. He was the only person in this entire stupid airport that looked like the guy in the picture. And if you are wondering, Logan Mitchell is my Cousin. Joanna Mitchell -maiden name Joanna Knight- is my dad's sister. She is married to Steve Mitchell. My parents claim I'm a "problem child" and so they sent me away. I used to live in sunny, warm Los Angeles, California but now I have been forced to move to the small, boring town of Rotterdale, Tennessee. The town's name doesn't even sound nice. I mean, seriously? It has the word 'rot' in the beginning of the name! The first thing I noticed when stepped off the plane was that it was freezing! And it's the middle of March. It's getting into spring now, it should be warm out.

"Kendall Knight?" I heard a male voice ask. I turned around and saw a guy shorter than me who had on a black sweater that said Tennessee on it in red letters. He was also wearing glasses that were squares and had black rimming. Just by looking at him I can tell he's a complete nerd! "I'm Logan Micthell." At that moment I hated the fact I had to be Kendall Knight.

"You have got to be kidding me." I said as I stared at him. He was scrawny, pale and wearing glasses there was no way in the world we shared the same blood line.

"Um, no, I'm your cousin," he said, seeming confused.

"Well, it's official, this can't get any worse. I'm out of here," I said, turning to walk away from him. He grabbed ahold of my arm.

"Wait," he said, I sighed and turned back around. "I know I'm just a nerdy kid no one wants to be seen with, but I'm the ride you have back to the house. So, if you want to follow way behind me as we walk, that's fine, but you have to get back to house somehow." He said and I groaned.

"Then start walking, and don't turn and look at me or anything." I said in a quiet tone. He seemed upset, but he started walking anyway, I waited until he got a little ways from me before grabbing my bags and following. I had a reputation back at home and I wasn't loosing it here. Just because I'm related to a nerd doesn't mean I have to be seen with a nerd. After we exited the airport, I followed him to where he was parked. He stopped by a car and unlocked it.

"And it just got worse," I said as I approached him. His car was an old, beat up Grand AM and it was painted a red color that was way too bright. "What have you done to this car?" I asked, seeing all the scratches and dents.

"Well, unlike you, I don't come from money. It was like this when I bought it," he said and I raised an eyebrow.

"And you still paid for this thing?" I asked as I put my bags in the back.

"Yes, it was cheap and runs good, that was what I was looking for. The way the car looks didn't matter," he said as we got inside.

"At least the inside isn't bad," I said and he nodded.

"They had gotten into a small wreck and just never fixed the car up afterward." He explained and I sighed. I sunk down into the seat and watched out the window as he drove.

"How far is the house?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Um, about thirty to forty minutes," he said and I groaned. I had to be stuck in the car with him for half an hour? Now I really wish I had walked away in the airport.

"What a joy," I said, no real emotion in my voice.

"Listen, I'm not thrilled about you being here either. But could you please try to be a little nicer? If we're going to be sharing a room then I don't want to have to deal with-" I cut him off at that.

"Whoa, whoa, back up, we're sharing a room?" I asked and he nodded.

"I thought they told you," I shook my head no.

"No, there is no way I'm sharing a room with _you_." I said and he sighed. It's bad enough they took me away from my friends, girlfriend and home, but now they are putting me in a room with a geek? My parents really do hate me, don't they? And they had to put me in one of the most stupid states in America. Why couldn't I had gone and stayed with my cousin Gene in Florida? I would had liked being there and I like him. I haven't seen Joanna, Steve or Logan since I was five. So why on earth am I being forced to live with them?

"You either share a room with me or a barn with animals. Then again, from the stories I've heard about you, you fit in better with the animals." Logan muttered the last part under his breath, and I looked over at him.

"What is your problem?" I asked and he just stared out the windshield, focused on the road.

"Nothing, I just didn't plan on having to pick you up. I still have studying to get done, homework to do, I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't even started on, and I have a book report due in two days." He said and I just chuckled.

"Wow," I said, shaking my head.

"What?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"You're a bigger nerd than you look." I said and he seemed to get more annoyed. He never said anything back though. He just focused on his driving. I stared out the window as we got out of the city and it started to become country scenery. Trees, fields, fenced in grassy areas with cows and horses in them. It was terrible.

After the long drive we finally made it to the house. And it just made my day even worse. The house was two floors with a bunch of windows. It was painted white and the paint was chipped and faded making it look terrible. There was a porch that wrapped around from the front of the house around the side and back. There was a swing on the front porch and a railing around the porch that looked like they had made it theirselves and it had the same ugly paint job as the house.

"I can't believe I have to live here. I mean, there's nothing here!" I said as I got out of the car.

"There's plenty here." He said and I rolled my eyes. There were other houses here but they were a good distance apart.

"Where's the nearest town?" I asked as I got my bags out of the back.

"About fifteen minutes that way." Logan said, pointing down the road in the opposite direction we had come from.

"Great," I said as I walked toward the house. There was a lot of space surrounding the house and I noticed a big barn behind it with a circle fenced area that had a dirt ground. It seemed stupid to fence in an area of dirt. We walked up the front steps of the house and Logan opened the door.

"We're back." Logan shouted through the house. Joanna came into the front room with a big smile on her face.

"Hi," she said in a cheerful way. She came over and went to give me a hug but I put my hand up.

"I'm not a hugger." I said, not caring if I was being "rude" or not. My parents always yell at me for being rude to people along side them yelling at me for everything little thing I do. I swear I my parents would yell at me for breathing different than them. I don't want to be their little clone.

"I see," Joanna said, stepping back. Logan began running up the stairs. "Where are you going?" Joanna asked him, getting him to stop.

"I have a lot of homework to get done." Logan said and she nodded. He ran up the rest of the stairs.

"Steve is out in the barn right now. He just got back from town so he'll be in here soon." Joanna said. I nodded, not really caring. All I wanted to do was get them to send me back home. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat." She said, pointing over her shoulder at what I assumed was the kitchen.

"No, but I am a little thirsty." I said and she nodded.

"Come on in the kitchen and I'll give you a tour to show you were everything's at." She said, walking through a doorway that didn't have a door. I followed her into the kitchen and she began going through what cabinets held what dish and what was in the drawers. After getting me a glass of apple juice, she led me through the rest of the house, showing me where everything was at so that I could feel more "at home" as she put it. She explained that they had horses and chickens out back and a pasture down the road where all their cows were at. She led me upstairs and showed me where the bathroom was and where everything in the bathroom was.

"And this is the room you'll be sharing with Logan." She said, opening the door. The room was an okay size, but definitely not big enough for me to be stuck in with a nerd. This was going to be the most miserable part of being here. Logan was sitting at a desk that had a laptop sitting on it, books scattered everywhere and a red plastic cup that had pens and pencils in it. It was nerd central. The walls were a medium blue color and there were posters and picture frames hanging everywhere on one side. There was a bed that I assumed was Logan's on the same side the desk and posters were on. There was another bed on the other side of the room that had a hunter green comforter on it and the walls and shelves were empty. Logan's bed had a dark blue comforter.

"You can put your stuff where you want. We had Logan clear off the shelves on that side of the room and take down his posters so you had that space for yourself." Joanna said and I nodded. "One side of the closet is cleared for your clothes and there's a plastic drawer in the closet for any stuff you don't want to hang up." I nodded at her and she gave a smile.

"I'll leave you to get settled in." She said before leaving. I looked over at Logan and seen that he was writing stuff down in a notebook with a book open in front of him. I rolled my eyes and walked over to my bag next to the bedroom door and threw my clothes over next to the bed. Back home if my mom wanted my clothes picked up, she did herself or they would lay everywhere. I didn't like cleaning and picking up after myself, so I never did. And I definitely wasn't going to do it here. I got my laptop out of my backpack and put it on the bed. I got a couple other things such as comic books, my Ipod and a couple other little things and stuck them on the shelf lowest to the bed. I then sat down on the bed and grabbed my laptop.

"Do you guys have internet?" I asked and Logan nodded.

"Wireless," he said and I smiled a little. I guess there's one good thing about this place. I got online and went to my Facebook page. I click on the little box to update my status and began typing.

**"Someone please come kill me! I'm in a the middle of hillbilly country!" **I posted the status and then went through to read what my friends were up to. My best friend Felix commented on my status, so I went to see what he said.

**"Oh, man! I'll do you that favor!" **He posted. I smiled and typed back.

**"Please do! They have chickens and crap! I'm stuck sharing a room with the biggest nerd EVER!"** I posted it and waited for his reply.

**"Dude, that's messed up. How could your parents send you there?"**

**"Because they hate me! I mean, why else would they put me here?"**

**"Too bad you're gone, we're throwing a HUGE party at Jake's house tonight. His parents are gone and Jo is going to be there. ;)" **I smiled as I read the last part.

**"Man! You just made me hate my parents more if that was possible!"** I have liked Jo since I met her six months ago but she hasn't warmed up to me yet. I knew I was starting to get to her though and it wouldn't be long before I got what I wanted from her.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked and I looked up to see him staring at me.

"None of your buisness." I said in a harsh way and went back to talking to Felix.

"I meant why aren't you unpacking." He asked and I looked up again, annoyed now.

"Because I'm not going to." I said, looking back down.

"But you can't just leave your-" I cut him off.

"Listen, I don't know how long I have to be here. But you could make it a lot easier on me if you would shut up and not talk to me. Ever." I said in a mean and annoyed tone. I was hoping he would get it and shut up. Logan stared at for a moment and then turned back to his books. I smirked a little, proud of myself.

"Logan! Get down here!" I heard a deep male voice yell. It must be Steve. He had a southren drawl and he sounded mad. I looked over and saw Logan's body suddenly seemed tense. He got up and quickly made his way from the room. I went back to the computer, not caring what the nerd did. The only time I looked up was when I heard foot steps that stopped at the open door to the bedroom I was in. There was a guy standing there who looked to be Hispanic. He just stood there and stared at me with a stupid smile on his face and it was annoying.

"What?" I asked, a harsh edge to my tone.

"Nothing, I was just going to introduce myself." He said and I raised my eyebrows in an annoyed way.

"Then do it," I said, making his smile fall a little.

"I'm Carlos," he said.

"And I don't care," I said, looking back down at the computer. I noticed out the corner of my eye that he didn't leave. "What do you want? Me to introduce myself? Fine. I'm Kendall. Now go away." I said, getting more hateful the more I spoke. What is with these stupid rednecks? Why can't they just leave me alone?

"You know, you don't have to be so mean," he said and I sighed and looked up.

"Apparently I'm not being mean enough 'cause you haven't got it yet. I don't care who you are, what you want or anything! Just leave!" I said, getting more mad. He stood there for a moment before walking away. I cursed under my breath and went back to my computer. I've been here almost an hour and I already hate it. How in the world do my parents expect me to live here?

"Kendall?" I let out a sigh of frustration.

"What?" I asked, my tone hateful and mean. I looked up to see Logan standing in the door way.

"Um, my mom wants to talk to you." He said and I rolled my eyes. Closing my laptop and getting off the bed. I walked over and shoved him into the door frame as I walked past him.

**Logan's POV:**

"Um, my mom wants to talk to you." I said and Kendall rolled his eyes at me, which I kind of expected him to do. He closed his laptop and got up. He walked over and shoved me into the door frame as he walked by. I straightened myself up and walked over to the desk and tried to focus on my homework. Kendall was a real jerk but I'm stuck with him until he leaves. Which I don't see being anytime soon. His parents sent him here to straighten him out, but with the way he acts now, I don't see him ever changing. Over the years I've learned one thing about people like him, once a jerk always a jerk. It was as simple as that. I tried to talk my parents into letting Carlos stay in my room with me, but they said it would just be easier to put Kendall in here since Carlos had all his stuff in the other room. I offered to help him move it all, but they still said no.

Carlos has been living with us for the last seven months while his parents are on a Missions trip. They would be in Africa for two years and Carlos didn't want to leave, so my parents offered for him to live with us for the next two years. It's great because Carlos is my best friend and always has been. My parents foster kids when needed, but we haven't had a kid in the last year. I don't blame them for not putting a poor kid here. My parents may seem like great people who care and are open to helping without a second thought, but really it's all an act. They're trying to show off for their friends. They want to be seen as great people who should be admired. They don't care about the people they're helping. Heck, they gave me life and have raised me this far and they couldn't care less what happens to me. I swear the only reason they kept me was to show off. They make me do sports that I hate and I have to have perfect grades for them to show their friends. I have to be perfect. I can't mess up or I'm going to be in big trouble. That's how my life has always been, so I'm just use to it now.

I looked up at the clock on the wall and seen that I had two hours until I had to be over at the church for the food pantry fundraiser. That was the only thing my parents made me start doing that I enjoyed, volunteering. Unlike my parents, I like helping because of the people, not for the praise. I enjoy seeing the happy looks on people's faces when you help. I helped a group from the church clean up a woman's home and fix it up so that she wouldn't lose her children once when I was thirteen. She went through and hugged every single one of us and thanked us. She was crying hard by the time she got to me and she kept thanking me for helping her get her home in a stable living condition so that she could keep her kids. That was when it first hit me that there was more to this than my parents made me believe. It wasn't about praise or being known. It was about the people you help. I just wish my parents would see that.

**Okay, so I know Kendall seems like a HUGE jerk right now and that's because he is. But he mellows out in later chapters. Also, I did Logan's POV to give you a look at how he feels and what's going on with all this. You'll see more of Logan's relationship with his parents, more of Carlos and more of Kendall's bad attitude in the chapters to come. **

**Review please! It means a lot to me! Also, please don't use any foul language (cussing) in your reviews, thank you. :)  
**


	2. Obeying Steve

**Okay, I'm sorry it took so long to update. I know I said I would update within a couple days of the first chapter, but a lot happened around that time, so I wasn't in the mood to do much. I'll give a little run-down of what's been going on. My best friend and I have been fighting and he's been ignoring me a lot because of his new girlfriend. Also I found out from his sister that he's been lying to me since April about his gf. He for some reason thought I would get upset b/c of her, but I wouldn't. So he lied to me and told me that he was working a lot when really he was with her and ignoring me. And now he's being a huge jerk toward me for not liking his gf. Anyway, we're currently not talking and I'm mad at him for a lot of reasons. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything and you know it. **

**Kendall's POV:**

I groaned as I heard an alarm going off. I lifted my head and looked toward Logan's side of the room. I saw him reach up and turn off an alarm clock sitting on the desk at the head of Logan's bed. I saw the numbers on it and it showed that it was four-forty-five in the morning. Logan rubbed his hand down his face as I rolled over to face the wall and go back to sleep.

"Kendall, it's time to get up." Logan said, suddenly shaking me.

"If you value your life, you'll go away." I told him and he sighed.

"Kendall, I don't have time to deal with you right now. Just get up and get ready." He said, shaking me again.

"I don't start school until monday." I told him and he groaned.

"You have to help out in the barn with the animals." He said, but I didn't answer. "Fine, I'm not dealing with you." He said and then walked away. I heard him ruffling around in the closet and getting dressed. I fell back asleep.

"Kendall! Get up!" I heard someone say. I rolled over to see who was standing over me and saw Steve. The sun was up because the room was lit pretty well. I looked over at the clock on Logan's side of the room and saw that it said eight AM. I was too tired to get up right now. I had stayed up late talking to my friends and I was staying asleep. No matter what they say.

"Go away," I said, rolling back over to face the wall.

"Don't talk to me like that! Get up now!" Steve said but I ignored him.

"I'm not getting up." I mumbled, trying to fall back to sleep. Suddenly I was being grabbed by the arm and yanked so that I rolled over.

"What?" I asked in an aggravated tone, sitting up to look at him. He seemed mad.

"You don't ignore me, boy. You better get up." He said, his voice was calm, but he was definitely mad. "Get up!" He yelled, grabbing me and pulling me out of the bed.

"Dude! What is wrong with you?" I yelled as I stood in front of him.

"First off, you will call me Sir while you're here, and second, you get up and get out to the barn every morning. Now, get dressed and get downstairs. You have chores to do." Steve said before walking out of the room. I figured I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now, so I might as well go downstairs and get something to eat. I walked over to one of my bags and pulled out a pair of jeans and a white and blue muscle shirt. I took my pj pants off and put my jeans on. I then slid the shirt over my head. I rarely wear a shirt to bed. I grabbed my bathroom stuff and headed down the hall to the bathroom. I walked inside and shut and locked the door. I brushed my teeth and did my hair. I decided I would take a shower tonight or something. After I was done, I walked out, put my stuff back in the bedroom and went downstairs to grab some breakfast. When I got downstairs no one was around. It seemed the house was empty. I walked into the kitchen and tried to remember where Joanna said everything was at. I finally found the bowls, cereal and spoons. I poured some Honey Nut Cheerios into a bowl and poured some milk in it also. I walked over and sat down at the table and began eating.

I looked around and noticed that these people had were crazy about chickens, mainly roosters. Their kitchen was decorated with tons of rooster stuff. They were on jars, the calender, towls, pictures, the curtains. Even the bowl I was using had roosters on it. This was just sad. I was finishing with my cereal when the kitchen door which led to the backyard opened.

"Hurry up and finish that, then get your shoes on and come with me." Steve said. His expression was hard and he still seemed mad. It was really possible for him to just be naturally mad? I drank the milk out of the bowl, walked over and put it in the sink and then went upstairs. I knew I would be in trouble if I didn't do as he says, but I wasn't in any hurry to get going. Instead, I got my laptop and sat on the bed. I got on Facebook and began talking to some friends. Including Jo. I may have a girlfriend, but that doesn't mean I can't look around and see what other option I have. And Jo was definitely a good option.

"Kendall! What are you doing?" Steve asked, still mad. I looked up at him.

"What does it look like?" I asked, going back to talking to my friends. He came up and grabbed the computer from me and stared hard at me.

"Get you're shoes on, get outside and you can have this back at the end of the day." Steve said and then walked out the door with my laptop. I could not believe he just did that.

**Logan's POV:**

I was standing at my locker, getting my stuff I would need to take home with me. Carlos was at his locker which was three down from my own. Carlos was talking about a girl he had a crush on and I was happy to listen. The girl's name was Makaylee and she was new in school. She just stared here about a month ago after her family moved here from Florida. She wasn't seen as someone the people in my school would talk to. I can't stand the people in my school. They all think they're better than anyone else and they don't associate with people who aren't like them. That's why Carlos and I don't fit in. I'm too much of a nerd and Carlos is too hyper and excited. Which were pretty stupid reason if you ask me. And Makaylee was seen as an outsider basically. She wasn't well known, they weren't sure where she fit in and they didn't know what her family was like. But since she started being friends with Carlos and she talks to me whenever she can, they've decided that she isn't someone they want to be seen with. Which is a terrible thing.

"Do you think I have any kind of chance with her?" Carlos asked as I shut my locker.

"I don't see why not. She's a nice girl. You should ask her out." I said and Carlos smiled brightly.

"I'll ask her tomorrow. She's already left to go home." He answered. I turned around to walk toward the door, but I ran into someone.

"Sorry," I said, looking up to see who I ran into. Right as I looked up, I was shoved back toward the locker.

"Watch where you're going, nerd!" James said as he walked past me. He was the most popular guy in school and the guy that every girl wanted to be with. And he has slept with just about every girl in our school already. He always has a new girlfriend and sometimes went back to old girlfriends. I honestly think there are only two girls in the school who haven't been with him. Makaylee and a girl named Claudia who is dating James' best friend Dak. Dak and Claudia have been together since the eighth grade and I don't see them breaking up anytime soon. Then again, Dak has bragged about sleeping with another girl before. Whether or not he actually did is unknown to me. They have all kinds of conversations in the locker room and the other guys think your "whipped" if you have a girlfriend but she's the only girl you've been with.

Carlos and I made our way to the front door of the school. He was still talking about Makaylee and everything he liked about her. I would usually be listening to him, but right now I had too much on my mind. I was wondering what kind of mood Kendall has put my dad in by now. If my dad is mad, he'll take it out on everyone else. Mostly me. I was his favorite kid to beat on and be mean to. Which is why I hate going home. I never know what kind of mood he'll be in. I figure the best thing for me to do is to go straight home and do my homework and then check it a couple times to make sure it's perfect. It has to be perfect or my dad will punish me and then make me re-do it again until I get it right. And when he's in a bad mood, he'll punish me for any tiny mistake. Even a misplaced period or comma. Which means I have to make sure everything is absolutely perfect before he checks it tonight.

That was what I got in trouble for last night after Kendall got here. I didn't have all my homework done like he told me to. I had to work hard last night to get my paper done, finish studying, doing the last of my math homework and I had to get my book report done. I had already read the book, I just hadn't written the paper yet because I was more focused on everything else. Of course that wasn't an excuse to my dad. I would either have to be in the hospital and unable to move or speak or I would have to be dead in order to get out of my school work. I swear my dad would do whatever he had to do to make sure I had perfect grades. Not because he cares so much about my future, but because he cares so much about what his friends think of his kids grades. Both my parents like to brag that their son is the top of the class and has an A+ on every piece of homework. Which is why I get extreme punishment if I get less. Even a simple A isn't my best in my parents eyes. They expect that plus to be on there or it's not good enough because any kid can get an A.

After a twenty-five minute drive, I parked the car in the drive-way. Carlos and I got our bookbags and walked to the house. The door was unlocked as usual, so we walked inside. I didn't hear anything so I wondered if my dad was out back or down at the field. I knew my mom was down at Mrs. Fowler's house for book club. My parents were involved in everything in this town they could be apart of. They think it'll make them more popular. It kind of does since more people depend on my parents since they'll be the head of any group or event that they can. I started for the stairs but was stopped by Carlos.

"Where you runnin' off to? No one is here, let's go get a snack before startin' on homework." Carlos suggested and I stood there for a moment. That sounded better than being locked up in my room all night, but I knew the best thing would be to go hurry and get my homework done and checked several times before dad checks it. Carlos gave me a pouty look and folded his hands in a begging way.

"Please, Logie? You spend too much time with homework." He said in a begging tone. I stared at him and then sighed.

"Fine," I said, coming down the stairs. He smiled brightly and made his way to the kitchen. I followed even though I knew I should be upstairs with everything already out. When I got into the kitchen, Carlos was already looking through the cabinets to find something to snack on.

"How about popcorn?" I asked and Carlos nodded. I walked over and got a bag of popcorn out of the cabinet and put it in the microwave. I walked over and got the sweet tea out and two Macen jars. I put some ice in each one and then filled the jars up with tea. I handed one to Carlos and took a sip from the other. I leaned against the counter as I waited for the popcorn. Carlos sat in one of the tall chairs at the island in the center of the room. The microwave beeped, telling me the popcorn was done. I got it out, put some salt on it, shook the bag and then poured it into a big bowl. I sat down at the counter with Carlos and we began eating the popcorn.

"What do you think about Kendall bein' here?" I asked, looking up from my jar to him. He shrugged as he got a handful of popcorn.

"I don't know yet. I know one thing though, he could really use a new attitude. I wonder what his deal is?" Carlos said as he put popcorn in his mouth.

"I don't know. I've only shared my room with him for one night and I already can't stand it. I don't get why my parents wouldn't let you just move into my room and give your's to Kendall. Everyone would had been a lot happier." I told him in an annoyed tone.

"Really. Putting him alone would of been better for everyone." Carlos said and I agreed. I nodded in agreement. Carlos and I started goofing off and messing around. We ended up trying to throw popcorn into each other's mouth. We were mostly successful in catching them, and any pieces that we missed we picked up quickly. We were laughing and I was in a really good mood. Until the back door swung open. Both Carlos and I got quiet at the look on my dad's face.

"What are you doing?" He asked in an angery tone.

"Just having a snack before doing homework." I said, my voice a little quieter than usual.

"You know the rules, you do you're homework as soon as you get home. Both of you, upstairs now. You're homework better be done before I come up there." He said, his voice rising in volume. Carlos and I both got up quickly. I put the popcorn bowl by the sink, we grabbed our bags and then made our way up the stairs. I went to my room and Carlos went to his. I walked over to my desk and got my stuff out. I began working on my homework instantly. The last thing I want is to make my dad more mad by not getting it done before he comes upstairs. Which I know he won't give us enought time to get it done. He always looks for a reason to yell at us. He also looks for a reason to beat me. I don't like to think of it as abuse, but it probably falls under that. He whips be with a belt when I disobey him or get a bad grade on something. He's smacked me several times for different things. That's why I choose to listen to him.

**Kendall's POV:**

Steve had me out in the horse stable cleaning up after them. Having to do this made me hate my parents even more. Cleaning up horse crap was definitely not what I wanted to be doing. After a long argument with Steve, he threatened to take away my laptop and cell phone. Those were two things I couldn't loose so I decided to clean and keep them. I hated Steve for making me for this. They're not my horses so I shouldn't have to clean up after them. That should be his job or the nerd's. I'm sure one of these dumb animals was his.

"Get in the house and start cleaning up for dinner." Steve's voice said from the stable door. I looked over and saw him standing there with that same mad look. This guy needs to learn to chill out. I walked over and leaned the shovel against the wall and took the gloves off my hands. I walked past him and toward the house. He didn't say anything as I did so. It was about a seven minute walk back to the house. How in the world do people stand living out here? Why would you want to give up a fun city life for a stupid, boring farm that you work your butt off on just to have to do it again the next day? As soon as I can get out of here, I will.

I walked into the house and took my shoes off and put them on the back porch. They had mud and horse crap stuck to them. Two things I never want to encounter ever again. I walked into the house and to the stairs. I ran up them and to the nerd's room. I opened the door and found him at his desk with stuff everywhere. I swear they don't come geekier than him. I hurried up and got a change of clothes and my bathroom stuff. I looked up to see him staring at me.

"What?" I asked in a harsh tone. He just turned his head back to his homework. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. I went to the bathroom and locked the door. I quickly stripped down and got in the shower. I decided there wasn't a need to hurry and wash. I have nothing else to do until dinner is done, and this is better than being stuck in a room with a geek doing homework. As soon as I get the chance to leave, I'm out of here. I plan to find a way to get down to Gene's place. My parents don't want me back so why should I go home yet? Sure I want to see my friends, but I like the idea of being gone. Just not here. I'll go party with Gene for awhile and then head back to Los Angeles and stay with a friend or something. I don't plan to go back home. They wanted me gone so much that they sent me to the middle of nowhere. It wasn't because they cared and I know that. My parents couldn't care less what happens to me.

After a long shower, I heard someone banging on the door.

"Kendall! Get out of the shower! Dinner is almost done!" Steve's loud voice said through the door. I sighed and turned the water off. I got out of the shower and dried off. I quickly got dressed in dark blue basketball shorts and a black muscle shirt. I didn't bother combing my hair or anything. Whose gonna care? I walked out of the bathroom and down to the bedroom. Logan was still at his desk. I put my stuff away and sat on my bed. I stared at him as he wrote something down.

"Why are you starin' at me?" He asked, not looking up.

"I'm trying to figure out what makes someone as nerdy as you." I said and he turned to look at me.

"I don't have a choice," he said in a harsh tone and then turned back to his homework. I scoffed and got up off the bed. I grabbed my cell phone and then walked out of the room and down the stairs. I went to the livingroom and plopped down on the couch. I turned the TV on and began going through the channels to find something to watch. I finally settled on watching a hockey game. I started texting my girlfriend Milly. I was texting her sweet little comments. I knew wanting Jo while dating Milly was wrong, but who cares. Jo was the hottest girl in school and everyone wanted her. So, naturally, I have to try to be first to get her. And if it means I have to break up with Milly, then I will.

"Dinner's done," Joanna said as she walked through the livingroom. I nodded and turned the TV off. She ran up the stairs to get the other two and I made my way to the kitchen. I got myself a cup of sweet tea and leaned against the counter. Steve was already sitting at the table with a jar in front of him that had tea in it. I didn't get why he was using a jar when they had a cabinet full of cups. Rednecks were definitely stupid. Joanna came into the kitchen followed by Carlos and Logan. They got their drinks, all jars full of tea and sat down at the table. I walked over and sat next to Joanna, who was inbetween me and Steve. Carlos and Logan were on the other side of the table. They said grace and then we began eating. Joanna had made fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and buiscuts. It wasn't too bad actually.

Dinner was definitely awkward though since no one really talked at all. Everyone was so quiet and every little sound was loud. What was with this family? The more I seen this family the more I hated it. Back home, I was never at home for dinner. I always went out with friends to dinner and it was always loud. This was just sad and miserable. I finished eating and then went to get up to go upstairs but was stopped by Steve.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm done eating, so I'm going upstairs." I said in an obvious tone.

"We stay at the table until everyone is done eating." He said, poing his fork at my seat. "Sit back down." He ordered. I rolled my eyes but didn't feel like arguing anymore today so I sat down. I slouched down in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. After what felt like ever, they finally were done eating and I was able to leave the table. I made my way up the stairs and to the bedroom. I was walked over and sat down on the bed and got my laptop out and started it up. After talking to people for awhile, Logan came into the room and went straight to his desk. I rolled my eyes and went back to my friends.

**Sorry that this chapter wasn't too great. This was mostly a filler chapter. I promise things will get better. And hopefully I can update quicker. Also, Kendall is a jerk in this story for now. He'll get better as the story goes on though. He's a bad boy, what do you expect him to act like? But things will be revealed about him later on. So please give this story a chance and keep reading. **

**Review please! :D**


	3. Welcome To West Hill High

**Alright, so I'm sorry this took so long to get written. But it's here now. I think for the time being, I'm back! I have this incredible need to write for some reason! I love it though and I'm not going to question it! I have been writing non-stop since about 5:30 this morning. I'm in an extremely good mood right now! I'm not sure why since I haven't slept since 5 yesterday evening. Maybe it's because I'm gonna get to see a very good childhood family friend today? That good be it! :D I haven't seen him in about 7 years now, so I'm super excited! :)**

**But, to get serious now. I'm extremely upset over the shooting that took place in Aurora, CO at the Batman movie. I cried watching the footage of people talking about it and the video of them leaving the theater... I can't believe something like that happened. I can't get over it. I can't get over that at the time that was going on, I was safe in my home with my family and pets. It seems like such a small thing, but I'm so thankful for the life I have and this just makes me realize it more. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the shooting in anyway, whether you were there or states away, it affected us all in some way. May God bring comfort to those grieving the lost of loved ones, may He bring relief and peace to those who know their loved ones are safe, and may He have His healing hand on those recovery from wounds it caused. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I love them! :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Kendall's POV:**

I woke up to a bunch of yelling and cussing. I lifted my head to see what time it was and seen it was almost six AM. Who yells at this hour? I wanted to roll over and try to go back to sleep, but I would be getting up in a little while anyway to get ready for school. The yelling starting to seem like it was louder.

"You've gotta be kidding me." I mumbled to myself. I got up off the bed and went to the door. I was going to find out what the heck was going on. I walked to the railing at the top of the stairs and looked down. Steve was the one yelling and he had something in his hand that looked like paper. I also noticed that Logan was standing in front of him. Why was he yelling at Logan this early? What did the nerd do?

"You better get upstairs and finish this! If this happens again you know what will happen?" Steve yelled, Logan shook his head no. "I'll beat you so hard you won't be able to walk." Steve said in a low, threatening tone. I seen Logan's shoulders move a little. It looked like he was crying. Sure I don't like the nerd, but that jerk has no right to yell at his son and threaten him that way. Steve shoved the paper into Logan's hands and then shoved Logan toward the stairs. Logan stumbled and fell forward onto the first few steps.

"Get up! And get that done!" Steve yelled, reaching down and grabbing Logan's arm to yank him up. Once Logan was on his feet, he ran up the stairs and past me. Steve looked up and seen me standing there staring at him. We kept eye contact for a few seconds and then he stormed off. I walked to the bedroom and found Logan at his desk. He had the desk lamp on and was working on whatever paper Steve had been mad about. I walked over to get my clothes to go take a shower. I wanted to pretend it never happened, but the nerd was making it hard. He was sniffling and occasionally wiping his eyes or nose with his sleeve. I hated that I felt bad for him. I may be the big and bad jock who is mean to everyone that crosses my path, but I do have a heart. I hate that I feel bad for people. I never beat on someone unless they undoubtedly deserve to be put in place. Seeing Logan getting yelled at and threatened by his dad was just wrong. Even I understand that what just happened was abuse. I sighed heavily and stared at the nerd.

"Logan? Are you okay?" I asked, hating myself for doing this. Logan sniffled and nodded his head. "What was that all about?" I asked and Logan stayed quiet and kept working. I let out another sigh and decided it wasn't worth it. If he wasn't going to talk, I wasn't going to waste my time or breath trying to be nice. I went to walk away but Logan said something that made me stop.

"You can't tell anyone..." He whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

"Trust me, I won't," I said in an annoyed tone. Just because I felt sorry for him, doesn't mean I have to go all soft. I went into the bathroom and got in the shower.

**Logan's POV:**

I made sure I got the unfinished homework done before dad decided to check on me. It was better not to make him more mad than he already is. I just wish he wouldn't care so much. I was going to do the rest of my homework before school started, but while I was out tending to the animals, my dad found the unfinished papers. Once I came back into the house, he started screaming at me about it. Telling me how worthless and stupid I am. Everything he said to me stuck. I know people would think I would just block it out, but it doesn't work. Everything he says, everything bullies say, everything I tell myself... It's all true. I'm worthless and if it wasn't for my dad always pushing me I would be stupid. He's the only reason I am where I am in school. Without him constantly pushing me, I wouldn't be like this. I wouldn't be ready to take on everything that will come with being a doctor. I knew that the way he chose to push me, with yelling and threats, wasn't the way he should do it.

I finished checking the pages one last time to make sure every little thing was perfect before my dad had the chance to see it. I jumped slightly when the door opened, but I was relieved to see it was only Kendall.

"Shouldn't you take a shower? You reek." He said as he got a pair of socks out.

"Yeah, I'm going to go do that now." I said and got up. I was hoping I wouldn't have to be in the room when my dad did his check. I quickly grabbed some clothes and made my way to the bathroom. After I was in and the door was locked, I felt safer. I always felt safer alone behind a locked door in the house. Problem was, the only room like this was the bathroom. The only other time I feel at ease is when I'm out on the old trails with my horse, Sir. **(1)** I got in the shower to take a quick shower before school. I wish I could stay in longer, but I only had a few minutes to get in and get out. After I was clean and didn't smell like the barn, I got out. I got dresssed, brushed my teeth, put on deoderant and all that fun stuff. I walked back to the bedroom to get my stuff for school. Kendall was in the room and was texting on his phone. I walked over to the desk and got all my stuff and put it in my bookbag.

"Did my dad check this already?" I asked and Kendall nodded his head, but never looked up at me. I nodded once and put it in my folder then stuck it in my bag. "Ready to head out?" I asked and he nodded. I figures he had ate breakfast while I was in the shower. I ate this morning before going out to the barn. My mom left this morning about the time I was getting up. I wasn't sure where she would go that early. After Kendall grabbed his stuff, we headed downstairs. I was relieved to see that my dad wasn't in the house. He was probably out in the barn. Carlos was in the kitchen waiting on us.

"About time," he said with a smile. He was eating a pop tart. He put the pop tart in his mouth to hold it, he grabbed his bag and plate. He put the plate in the sink and took the pop tart out of his mouth after taking a bit. We walked out the door and to my car. Carlos got in the back and let Kendall ride up front with me. The ride to school was filled with Carlos talking. Kendall and I stayed mostly quiet except for me answering Carlos every once in awhile. We finally got the car and the second the car stopped, Kendall was out the door. I figured Carlos was driving him nuts also. I love Carlos like a brother, but he does drive me crazy. He's way more cheerful than any one person should be. We both got out and walked to the school. Kendall was already at the door and walking inside. I was going to show him around a bit, but it looks like he's more of a loner. He probably doesn't want to be seen with me. Carlos is the only person who willing talks to me in school.

Once we were inside, we started making our way to our lockers. But I was stopped by Mrs. Budlin.

"Logan, where's your cousin? Wasn't he supposed to start school today?" She asked and I nodded.

"He came in ahead of Carlos and I. I figured he went to the office." I said, pointing down the hall to where it was at. She nodded.

"Well then, I better get down there to greet him." She said and I smiled. She's one of the few adults in school I actually like. She worked in the office so greeting Kendall was kind of her job. I kind of wondered why she wasn't there in the first place.

**Kendall's POV:**

When I got the office there wasn't anyone at the desk. I sighed and took a seat in one of the chairs. There was someone else sitting in a chair right down from me. He was slouched down on the hard bench and had his arms crossed. He was wearing a black sweatshirt that said something in white on the front, and he had the hood up. I would have thought he was asleep but his knee bouncing proved his was awake. After a few minutes of sitting there the door opened. A short woman who was a bit heavier, had dark skin kind of like a deep tan, her hair was brown and up in a messy bun. She had on bright green eye shadow and was wearing a dark jean skirt with a lime green long sleeved shirt.

"You must be Kendall," she said as she walked over to me. I nodded. "I'm Mrs. Budlin," she said, hold her hand out. I shook it. In a way it was hard to believe this woman was married. I'm not saying she's ugly, but she's seems kind of out there and colorful judging from her choice in clothing and eye shadow.

"Diamond, you better not be sleeping." She said to the other guy. He lifted his head and gave a sarcastic grin.

"Of course not, I'm just trying to contain my excitement of seeing you again." He said with sarcasm.

"Kendall this is James. James can you be nice and say hi to Kendall?" She asked in a tone you would use with a kid. He smiled again.

"Love to, hi." He said, and then went back to looking away from us.

"Delightful, isn't he?" She said in a playful tone. "James, give it here," she said and he stood up and handed her a piece of paper. She looked it over and then nodded. "Take on in to Rod." She said and he nodded and went into the pricipal's office. Mrs. Budlin had me come over and she got me the things I would need and went over some stuff with me. At the same time I was leaving, James came back out and was walking out also. We both started toward the same direction.

"English with Mr. Spets?" James asked and I nodded. As we were walking down the hall, so were some other kids who were running to class before the bell rang. One bumped into James and he turned toward the kid who had stopped and seemed shocked. "What it!" James said in a raised tone. The kid just nodded and seemed scared. "Get!" James yelled and the kid continued running down the stairs.

"Dumb freshmen." He mumbled as he kept walking. "You're living with that nerd Logan, right?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, unfornately," I said and he chuckled.

"To be honest with you, I didn't expect you to look the way you do. You ain't a nerd. Which is what I was expecting when word got out that Logan's cousin was coming here." He said and I chuckled.

"You think nerds are bad in school, try living with one. If I was anything like him, I would beat myself into a coma." I said, making him laugh.

"I hear ya," he said. We stopped outside of a classroom and he sighed. "Time for torture." He said before opening the door. We both walked inside.

"So nice of you to finally arrive Mr. Diamond." Mr. Spets said with a smile. He was a middle aged man with thinning blonde hair and pale skin. He was kind of tall and had a bit of a belly.

"Yep," James said as he walked toward the back of the classroom. Mr. Spets turned to me.

"You must be Kendall." He said and I nodded. "Well, welcome to our school. You can take a seat right there next to your cousin." He said and I nodded and walked toward where Logan was at. Carlos was behind him. I was beginning to wonder how everyone knew who I was and that I was Logan's cousin. It was kind of creepy. Through most of class I just sat there and doodled in my book. They had to do a test but since this was my first day, I didn't have to do it because I wasn't here for the lessons. I was so bored. I looked over at Logan and saw him hunched over his paper and working hard. My mind went back to that morning and I couldn't help but feel bad for the kid. He meant it when he said he didn't have a choice. I wasn't gonna change how I see him. He's still a nerd no matter how he got there. Finally the bell rang and everyone began getting their stuff together to head to their next class.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

After a couple more classes it was time for lunch. I had just gotten through the line and had my food. I walked around to find a place to sit. Carlos was waving me over but I definitely wasn't sitting with them for lunch.

"Kendall! Over here!" I heard someone yell. I looked over and saw James looking at me. He made a motion with his hand, telling me to come over there. I walked over to the table he was sitting at with some other people. "Sit on down," he said motioning to an empty seat next to a blonde girl. I walked over and sat down in the chair.

"Guys, this is Kendall. Kendall, this is Jaz, Dak, Claudia, Jett, Joel, Kandi, and Toby." He said, point to each one. I nodded once to say hey to all of them.

"You're from LA right?" Kandi asked and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, right near the water." I said and she smiled.

"I would love to live near the water. Do you surf?" She asked in a flirty tone.

"A little, but it wasn't a main thing for me." I said.

"You definitely have the body for it." She said, looking down. I was used to girls being all over me, but Kandi just wasn't my type. She was pretty and all. I'm not picky about appearance, but I don't like when girls try too hard to get attention from guys. It makes them seem too needy and willing to go to bed with any guy they catch the eye of. Sure, I have a rep of getting girls to bed and I have gotten a few, but not as many as people like to think.

"Yo, Kendall, are still with us?" Joel asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I pulled my head back away from his hand.

"Yeah," I said, swatting his hand away.

"So, what does Kendall Knight like to do in his spare time?" Dak asked, leaning back in his chair and eating a handful of grapes.

"First off, how does everyone know so much about me when they've never met me?" I asked and James chuckled.

"You're in a small town now, Knight. Everyone knows everything about everybody. I swear if you sneeze everyone in town will know. These losers have nothing better to talk about than each other. Well, that, corn, beans, hay and cattle. But who wants to talk about that crap?" James said, picking at a cookie on his tray. I laughed a little.

"You can't be serious." I said.

"No, he's being serious. I swear if I do something my parents wouldn't like, they'll know about it before I even get home." Dak said and I chuckled as I put a grape in my mouth.

"That must suck! My parents are strict about everything and they never knew half the stuff I did." I said.

"Man, you're lucky! The first time I smoked, my parents were waiting at the door for me to get home. Someone spotted me and Jett with the cigarrete and called our parents to tell them. Both of us were grounded for months. We were supposed to be home immediantly after school and everyone knew that. If we were caught heading anywhere but home, we would be escorted home personally by the person. It sucks living here." James said and and shook my head.

"I feel sorry for you guys. This has to be one of the worst places to live." I said with a small chuckle.

"Stick with us and it won't seem so bad. Jett's parents are gonna be out of town for a few days and we're throwing a party at his house. They live way out on a country road, so no annoying neighbors calling police or parents, or coming over to tell you to break it up. There are some advantages to living out here. What do you say? You in?" James asked and I smiled and nodded.

"Definitely! I've been stuck with those nerds since I got here." I said, pointing at Logan and Carlos. "I'm actually being forced to share a room with Logan." I said and they began laughing hard.

"Dude! You shouldn't feel sorry for us living here._ We_ feel sorry for _you_ having to share a room with_ that_!" Jett said, making everyone laugh and nod in agreement. I chuckled.

"Yeah, you should!" I said and they laughed a little more. After talking for awhile longer, the bell rang, telling us lunch was over.

"Meet me out front and I'll drive you home to save you from riding the nerd-mobile. I'll also pick you up tonight to take you to the party." James said, pointing at me as we parted to head to different classes. Tonight was gonna be the best night since I got here.

**(1) I couldn't think of a name for a horse, so I used Sir. Which was stolen from one of my friends. His horse's name is Sir. **

**So, what did you think? I honestly liked this chapter. There will be more of Carlos and Logan in this story farther on. Right now, I'm kind of focusing on Kendall getting started in the town and causing trouble. The next chapter will be a continue of this chapter obviously, and shouldn't take too long to get up. I'm already a good way into it. I told you I've been in a mood to write. But the chapter might be up tonight, don't hold me to that though. It depends on how late I'm with my friend and the family. But anyway, I might write a little more later in the morning since my friend won't be here until 4 today. :( So, we'll see how long it takes, heck the next one might be up before he even gets here! :D**

**Review please! And no rude or mean comments please. Also, please don't use foul language (cussing) in your reviews. It's very much appreciated. :)**

**R.I.P to all lives lost on 7/20/12. God Bless.**


	4. Trick Of The Trade

**Alright, so I know I was supposed to post this over the weekend, but I didn't get around to it. Sorry. So, there's honestly not a lot to say. Well, I guess the only thing I can say is I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate that you all are reading this and reviewing! :)**

**Disclaimer: Y'all know I don't own anything you recognize. **

**Kendall's POV:**

"Thanks for saving me, dude." I said as James pulled into the drive-way.

"No problem, man." He said and I nodded. I opened the door and jumped down out of his truck. "Hey, I'll be back to get you around nine tonight. Jett's parents are leaving at five, but we want to give them a chance to get a few hours away before we start the party." James said and I nodded.

"I'll have to find a way to get out of the house. Steve has this weird rule about being in the house by eight." I said and James chuckled.

"Ain't his rule. This stupid town wants to "keep kids safe"," he made quotation marks with his fingers. "So, the parents got together a few years back and set a town curfew for anyone under eighteen. If you're under eighteen and get caught out running around after eight, you can get in trouble. If you're caught by a police officer, you can actually get fined for breaking the curfew. But that's after like the fourth or fifth time your caught." He said and I scoffed.

"That's so stupid!" I said and he nodded.

"Yeah, it is. To make it worse, the parents in this town are super strict. If you get caught and get fined, you have to pay the fine. They'll make you do exact work on you family farm and they'll set money back until you pay it off. Or you have to work for other farmers around here and they'll pay you. But once you get home, the money has to go toward paying that fine. It sucks." James said and I chuckled.

"I take you've got a couple marks for curfew breaking?" I asked and he chuckled.

"Yeah, more than a couple. I hate the curfew and hate this town." He said. "Anyway, I better get home before my mom calls me wantin' to know where I am." He said, shifting from park to drive. "See ya tonight." He said and I nodded and shut his truck door. The large, black truck pulled out of the drive-way. It was really loud and once he was on the road he gave it some gas and it roared as it made it's way quickly down the road. It was a nice truck, I'll admit that. It had big tires on it and stacks that spit out huge black clouds. It was really nice.

I walked into the house and found Joanna in the kitchen cooking.

"There you are. I asked Logan where you were and he said you got a ride home from a new friend. But I wantin'**(1)** expecting that to be James Diamond. Kendall, you're supposed to be gettin' away from the likes of him. He ain't nothin' but trouble." She said and I shrugged.

"He's seems nice to me." I said and she sighed.

"I ain't gonna argue with you right now. Go change and then head on out to the barn with the boys. They'll need you help moving those bails of hay." She said and I just raised my eyebrows, turned and walked away. It wasn't something I wanted to go do, but I needed to keep everyone in a good mood. I didn't feel like having to sneak out or have them throw a fit about me leaving. I walked upstairs and threw my bag down on the floor. I got changed into a different pair of jeans that were already torn and dirty. I put on a black sweat shirt and my old tennis shoes. I walked back downstairs and went out the back door. I walked toward the barn and found Carlos putting bails of hay on a conveyer belt of some sort that had ridges in it that held the hay.

"Hey, there you are. You can help Logan. He's up in the loft." Carlos said, pointing toward the small door at the top of the barn.

"Yeah, how do I get up there? Ride this thing?" I asked and Carlos laughed.

"As awesome that sounds, Steve wouldn't allow it. There's a ladded inside the barn that takes ya up there." He said and I walked toward the barn door. I walked inside and looked around. In the corner there was a wooden ladder that led up to a hole in the floor. I walked over and climbed up it. At the top there were stacks of hay piled up everywhere. Logan was pulling hay bails off the belt thing and putting them aside in stacks.

"Start grabbing some and piling it up along that wall over there." Logan said, pointing to wall opposite of him. Logan leaned out the little door. "You can put more on the belt, Carlos." He shouted down. There was bail after bail of hay coming up. Logan was making quick work of grabbing it and basically throwing it on top of the others, but making pretty much perfect stacks.

"Kendall, you're gonna have to speed up." Logan said and I let out an aggitated groan.

"I'm going as fast as I can." I said, grabbing another bail of hay and putting in on one of the stacks. "How long do we do this?"

"Until that trailer is empty." Logan said, grabbing another bail. We were going to be here forever. That trailer was full of hay. "If you picked up the pace a bit, it wouldn't take as long." Logan said and I made a face at him and grabbed another bail. At this point, the bails were falling off the belt and we were grabbing those to keep it from getting backed up.

"Who orders this much hay?" I asked and Logan chuckled.

"Order? No, we cut this ourselves. All this hay is from the barn down on the cattle field. There's some left down there for the cows and this is brought here for the horses." Logan said. We both were a little out of breath from the fast moving and heavy lifting.

"Why do you need this much for five horses?"

"It's so that we have plenty. And if something were to happen where we couldn't get down to the cattle barn, we would have plenty here for the horses and cattle." Logan explained. After who knows how long, Logan finally grabbed the last bail of hay and stacked it up.

"Is that it?" I asked and Logan went over to the door and looked down.

"Yeah, that's it. We're done," he said. "Go down and help Carlos." He said and I walked over to the floor door. It was on the same side as the hay belt thing, and the whole back part of the loft was full of hay now. I climbed down the ladder and went out to where Carlos was at.

"Help me push this away from the loft door." Carlos said and I got on one side of is. I helped him push the huge thing away from the loft door and then Logan shutt the small door. We stopped pushing it once it was away from the door.

"Do we take this thing some place?" I asked and Carlos shook his head.

"It just stays here." He said as Logan came out of the barn. He shut the door and did the latch on it to keep it shut. We started the walk back toward the house.

"Why did you build the barn so far from the house?" I asked as we made about halfway. They had a huge backyard, couldn't they had built the barn closer? It was like a mile away from the house.

"'Cause we felt like it." Logan said and Carlos laughed. Once we were finally at the house, I wasn't sure I would make up the stairs. I don't see why anyone would want to live this way. You can't do anything without being sore afterward. I had to get upstairs though to take a shower. Once I finally made it up the stairs, I decided to rest for a few minutes before taking a shower. I collasped on my bed on my stomach. Logan chuckled from his desk.

"Hopefully this whole hard work thing gets easier on you. You'll never make it once it gets hot outside." He said, chuckling as he turned to the papers on his desk. I really didn't feel like moving. But I knew I had to do my homework before the party and it's already six O'clock. That stupid hay took three hours to move. That was ridiculous! After resting for a little while, I got up to go take a shower. I got a change of clothes and then went to the bathroom. I was so ready for tonight. I'll be able to relax for once. I got undressed, turned the shower on and got in. After I was done washing up, I got out, dried off and wrapped the towl around my waist. I brushed my teeth, put deorderant on, and put my clothes on. I was wearing a black t-shirt that had gold cross with wings design on the front, and I was wearing light blue jeans that had rips in them. I combed out my hair and put a little cologne on. I stepped back to look myself over the best I could in this little mirror. Once I was satisfied with how I looked, I walked back to the bedroom.

"Why are you all dressed up?" Logan asked from his desk.

"I'm going out with some new friends." I said simply. I wasn't going to tell the goody-two-shoes that I was going to a party, he would rat me out.

"With James and them?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. I laid down on the bed on my back and began texting Jo. She was driving me crazy with all the texts.

"James is a jerk," Logan said, looking down at his papers.

"Why? Because he doesn't like nerds like you?" I asked and Logan stopped writing. He just stared down for a second and then shook his head a little and went back to writing. I knew saying that stuff probably upset him, but whatever. Just because the nerd had to deal with a mean dad, doesn't mean I have to be nice to him. He should know I'm not going to back down so easy.

"He's a jerk to everybody. Not just us nerds." Logan said, still writing.

"Whatever," I said.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

It was finally time to pary. James had texted me saying he was on his way. Luckily Steve and Joanna went out for the night so I didn't have to sneak or nothing. I was sitting on the front porch waiting for James to get here. I heard the sound of the loud truck speeding down the road toward me. James's truck came into view a few seconds later. He pulled into the drive-way and I walked out and got in.

"Ready to party?" He asked as I climbed inside.

"You know it!" I said, shutting the door. He backed out of the drive-way and sped down the road.

"We gotta stop by my house. My dad and brother are gone, and I need to get some beer. My dad keeps a bunch of it in the basement." James said. I just nodded. James reached over and turned the radio on. "What kind of music do you like?"

"Um, pretty much anything," I said and he smiled.

"Cool," he said as he put a CD in. It was one of Incubus' CDs.

"This is one of my favorite bands." I said.

"Mine too," he said. James pulled up to a somewhat run down house and parked in the drive-way. "I'll be back," he said, opening the door and getting out. He walked up to the door and walked inside. Their house was one floor, it was a gray color and there was a window that had plastic over it. The porch looked like it was about ready to fall in. There was a swing on the porch that used to be white but the paint was chipped. What was with these people around here? I wasn't trying to be judgemental toward James since he's a new friend, but I mean, come on. Doesn't his dad have the home repair skills these rednecks seem to be born with? James finally came out holding two twenty-four packs of beer. One in each hand. He put them in the bed of the truck and got in the driver's seat. He put it in drive and we took off.

We got to Jett's house and James parked in the yard alongside a few other cars and trucks. We got out and each grabbed a case of beer. James walked up to the house and walked inside. The music was already blaring and people were standing around with red cups, some were dancing and others were sitting in chairs with girls on their laps. This was my kind of party. James was instantly greeted by other people in the house as he made his way toward the kitchen. We got into the kitchen and there was all kinds of different alcohol products on a table. James and I laid the cases of beer up on the table and each got one. They were cold, so I figured James's dad must of a fridge of some sort he stores them in.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

**Third Person's POV:**

Kendall was dancing up against some girl he didn't even know the name of. He was having a blast dancing and partying with friends like his old ones. Kendall was drunk and so was everyone else in the party. Normally these kinds of parties were held on saturday night, not Thursday when everyone had school the next day. No one had that on their mind though. They were here simply to have a good time. After the current song had ended, James and Kendall made their way to the kitchen to get another drink.

"This party is awesome!" Kendall said before downing half of his beer.

"I know right?" James said, drinking a little of his mixed drink. They both finished off their drinks pretty quick, got more and the went to the livingroom where everyone else was at. Jett came up them after a few minutes.

"Kendall, ever played beer pong?" He asked and Kendall smiled.

"All the time! I'm a champion at that game!" Kendall said and the other laughed.

"Well, James here is our champion. So you'll have to beat him in order to hold that title here." Dak said and James smirked.

"What do you say? Wanna play me for it?" James asked and Kendall took a large gulp of his drink.

"You know it," he said, putting his cup on a near-by table. Jett and Dak were getting people together and they all made their way to the garage. There was a table already set up with red cups filled with different amounts of beer.

"Guest first," James said with a smirk. Kendall smirked and bounced the pong ball straight into one of the fuller cups. Everyone started making a bunch of noise, mostly saying 'oh' really loud. Kendall held his hands out at his sides with a smile. James nodded a little as if in approval and grabbed the cup. He downed it and then removed the pong ball.

"Not bad," James said before bouncing his pong ball into one of Kendall's cups. Everyone cheered for him and Kendall downed the drink. It was plain to see that this game was going to be a good one. Everyone was cheering as they conituened playing. The farther they got into the game, the more intense it got. Kendall kept landing the ball in the cups and James was starting to miss them. It was obvious it was frustrating for James, but he didn't give up. Kendall bounced his ball into James' last cup of beer. James cursed and grabbed the cup. Everyone cheered for Kendall who was quite proud of himself for winning. They refilled the cups and then Jett and Dak went against each other. James was mad he lost, but he had to admit, Kendall was good.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

**Kendall's POV:**

I groaned as I opened my eyes. I looked around and seen that I was sitting on a couch. There were other people passed out around the room and some were up. Jett, Dak and Claudia were walking around the room with trash bags and were cleaning up. James was passed out on a chair across the room. I sat up and rubbed my head. The worst part of any party was the massive hang over you always get. I forced myself up and over to where Claudia was cleaning up a pile of cups and bottles on a table. I began to help her pick them up and throw them away.

"You don't have to help," Jett said and I shrugged.

"Least I can do," I said, continuing to pick them up. I looked at a digital clock on the table and seen it said that is was almost nine-thirty. I had already missed the first half of the day. "I have to get to school." I said and the others laughed.

"You're really going to school hung over?" Dak asked and I sighed.

"If I don't show up and they call my uncle, you won't be seeing me again for a long time." I said. "Besides, the nerds probably already ratted me out to them, so I'm probably already in a lot of trouble." I said, putting the last few bottles on the table in the trash bag.

"Alright, if you insist on going, at least change. My room is the third door on the right. You can borrow some clothes. And there's some mouth wash in the bathroom." Jett said and I thanked him and made my way up the stairs. I went to his room and grabbed some jeans and a black sweat shirt that seemed to be a little old and worn out. I figured it was best to wear clothes he didn't care about all that much. I went to the bathroom connected to his bedroom and found some small paper cups. I grabbed one and put some mouth wash in it. I put the mouth wash in my mouth and swished it around a bit. I spit it out and looked in the mirror. I liked like crap, but I didn't have time to do anything about it. I ran my fingers through my hair to smooth it down the best I could. I walked back downstairs.

"I don't have a way to get to school." I said and Claudia came over. She held out some keys.

"Take my car, I can get it back later today. Just leave it at school with the keys in the little pouch thing on the back of the driver's seat." She said and I nodded.

"Thanks. I'll bring your clothes back later Jett," I said and he nodded. Claudia told me which car was her's and I went outside and got in it. I started the car up and made my way to the school. When I was almost there I realized I didn't have my book bag, but I decided it didn't matter. They should just be happy I came. I had a major headache and I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to add to whatever Steve was going to say or do. I parked and made my way inside the school. Everyone was switching classes. I made my way toward the classroom I was supposed to be in. I walked in and sat down at my desk. I crossed my arms on the table and put my head down. I had to do this a few times back home. My parents would take my keys away if I missed a day of school. We had a few parties through the week but we tried to keep them on the weekend. So I had been in school hung over before. It sucks.

After a few minutes, people started coming into the room and I groaned at how loud they were being. It was terrible.

"Hey Kendal!" Carlos' annoying high voice said as he sat down in the desk next to mine.

"Carlos, shut up," I said, not caring that it upset him.

"Kendall, it's not his fault your hung over. That was your own stupid choice. Leave him alone," Logan said, sitting one row over and one chair in front of me. "I'm surprised you even came today." Logan said and I just ignored him the best I could. I put my head back down and my hands over my ears. I was hoping this hang over would end before too long. I was beginning to wish I had just stayed at Jett's rather than coming. Who cares what Steve would say or do? After a few more minutes, the teacher came in and started class. I didn't pay attention most of class though. I mostly kept my hands over my ears to try and calm my headache. It seemed like class dragged on forever. The bell finally rang which caused me to press my hands tighter to my ears until it was done.

The next thing I had to go to was lunch. I decided to go to the bathroom and wash my face and just hang out in there. At least it would be quieter than the lunchroom. I walked down the hallway and into the bathroom. I grabbed some paper towls and turned the faucet on. I splashed cold water on my face a few times and then dried my face off. I was hoping to feel better by the end of lunch. I had been fighting the feeling of having to throw up all of class. I started to feel the urge again and realized I wasn't going to be able to fight it. I ran into one of the stalls and began throwing up in the toilet. I stayed there for a moment as I dry-heaved. I threw up about three times before I was finally done. I flushed the toilet and walked over to the sink. I used my hands to get some water to rinse my mouth out. I leaned against the counter and urged the sick feeling to go away. I quickly ran to the stall again and began to throw up once more.

After rinsing my mouth again I was pretty sure I was done throwing up but I wasn't leaving the bathroom just incase. I stood there leaning against the counter with my eyes closed. I still felt sick, but I didn't feel like throwing up. After a few more minutes I ended up running back to the toilet. I hadn't thrown up this much since the first few times I had gotten drunk. I was hoping this would help me to get through my hang over. I always used to help once I was done. I just stayed near the toilet this time. I was sitting on my knees because I still felt sick.

"Are you okay?" I heard a voice ask. I turned and looked over my shoulder to see some kid standing near the entrance of the stall.

"Yeah," I said before throwing up a little more. I was pretty sure everything was out of my stomach by now. I began dry-heaving again. I knew I had to be done because I had nothing left to throw up. After a few minutes I heard the door open again. I looked up to see the kid who asked if I was okay and Mr. Spets was with him.

"Kendall, are you alright?" Mr. Spets said and I nodded.

"Yeah, it must of been something I ate." I said, hoping he wouldn't know I was hung over. I really didn't need this right now.

"Maybe we should take you to the nurse," he said and I shook my head.

"No, I've thrown up whatever it was. I'll be fine," I said, refusing to go. She would definitely know what was wrong and would call Steve and Joanna.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go see here just incase?" Mr. Spets said and I shook my head no.

"I'm fine," I said and he sighed.

"Alright, have it your way. But if it doesn't get better, either come get me or go to the nurse. Okay?" He asked and I nodded. Him and the kid walked away and left the bathroom. I started to feel a little better, so I got up to rinse my mouth again. Once I was done, I walked out of the bathroom and to the lunchroom. I went and got some milk and went sat down at a table no one else was at. I opened the small milk carton and took a drink. I was just ready for this day to be over with so I could go home. At least Logan and Carlos were entertaining themselves rather than bugging me. I crossed my arms on the table and put my head on them. I really tired and still had a bit of a headache. It wasn't so bad anymore though. I looked up when I heard someone sit down across from me.

"Over do it last night?" James asked with a chuckle.

"How is possible that you're not severely hung over? You drank more than I did." I said and he chuckled.

"Actually I didn't." He said and I pulled my eyebrows together.

"What do you mean? You had several drinks and then I beat you at beer pong." I said and he chuckled.

"I don't like getting drunk as much as other people. I actually only had two actual alcohol drinks." He said but I was still confused.

"What do you mean? You went back and got several mixed drinks."

"Actually I never mixed them. Like I said, I don't like getting drunk, but I hate the heckling I get for not drinking. So, I started pretending to drink. That's why I mix drinks. I fill the cup up and put the end of the bottle of whatever alcohol I'm putting in it, but I put my finger over the end so that it doesn't pour. People still think I'm mixing, but I don't. Last night I didn't actually get drunk until playing beer pong with you." He said with a chuckle.

"I can't believe that you do that." I said with a laugh. He shrugged.

"Anyway, how's your hang over?" He asked and I chuckled.

"Finally going away. This morning was terrible." I said and he laughed a little.

"Now you know why I don't like getting drunk. I can't stand hang overs... All this stays between the two of us. Got it?" He asked and I nodded.

"Got it," I said with a smile.

**(1) This is a country way of saying 'wasn't'. We say it where it sounds like you're saying wantin'. I say this all the time. I didn't know how to actually write it out, so I just wrote it like that. **

**So, this didn't turn out as good as I was hoping. I don't drink or go to parties or anything, so I'm clueless about these kind of parties except for what I see in movies. I got the beer pong thing from the movie To Save A Life. That's the only way I actually have an idea of what goes on in the game. Of course, I'm not actually sure how the game ends, so I just made up my own ending. I hope it's at least close. Also, I got the thing of bailing hay from one of my friends. He was talking about how he's surprised they can actually bail hay this year for how dry it's been and nothing's been growing. He actually enjoys bailing and storing hay. Oh, and James' little trick of not getting drunk comes from another friend of mine. He went through a lot and always tried to fit in but he hated getting hung over, so he started doing that to trick them into thinking he fit in with them. You'll get to see more of James and his home life later on. Don't judge James and Kendall too harshly yet because everything will be explained for both of them and why they are they way they are. **

**Review please! :)**


	5. Actions Can't Be Erased

**Alright, so I finally got this chapter done! I'm sorry if this story is kind of boring. I promise things will start picking up here soon! I honestly like how this chapter turned out and I hope you do also. Oh, and Steve doesn't have a horse because he doesn't like animals, that's important to know for this chapter so there's no confusion. Also, the friend that I got James' trick from about drinking, I'm not sure if I said it or not, but he doesn't drink anymore. He's gotten his life straightened out since then. He's also a daddy now. :) **

**Thank you sooo much for the reviews and for reading! I love that people are actually reading this story! :D**

**Disclaimer: You already know I don't own anything. **

**Kendall's POV:  
**

I was honestly dreading going home. I figured one of the geeks ratted me out already. They were already home and made it home about ten minutes before I did. I figured they had told Steve and Joanna everything that they knew. I walked in the door, expecting to get chewed out the second I stepped inside, but there was nothing. I went to the kitchen and found Logan at the stove cooking, Carlos with a rag wiping down the table and Steve at the counter with a magazine.

"About time you got home." Steve said, looking up at me. "Where were you last night?" I wasn't sure what to say, but I figured telling him. I wasn't in the mood to fight with anyone.

"He... um, he stayed that night with a friend." Logan jumped in, realizing I didn't know what to say. _Why is he defending me?_ I thought as I stared at him.

"What friend?" Steve asked and I looked at Logan again. I knew from Joanna's reaction to me hanging with James that Steve would probably be pretty mad.

"Uh, Matt Downey? Right?" He asked, gesturing toward me a little for confirmation. I nodded my head even though I had no clue who Matt Downey was. Steve looked between the two of us.

"Alright, then why were you with James Diamond yesterday?" He asked and I sighed, hoping a little more lying would get me away from him.

"I just hung out with him at school." I said as Logan went back to the food cooking on the stove.

"Really? Well I know both of you are lying. Because Mr. Diamond told me this morning that his oldest boy, Travis, told him that you and James were over at his house last night, and that James left with some beer." He said and I saw how Logan had tensed up a lot.

"Okay, fine, I was lying. I went to a party with James last night, it's not a big deal. I made it to school this morning and I'm home now." I said and Steve stood up quick enough to shove the table out a bit.

"It is a big deal! You both lied straight to my face! Kendall, you're not to leave this house except for school." He said, pointing a finger at me. "And Logan... You'll get your punishment later." He said and I noticed how Logan's body seemed to begin trembling. I don't like Logan, but that doesn't mean I want him to get hurt.

"Logan was covering for me because I asked him to. You shouldn't be mad at him." I said and Logan seemed shocked that I was lying to help him. Steve stared at me and then looked at Logan.

"Fine, but you're still in trouble, Logan. You know better than to lie to me for any reason." He said and Logan nodded.

"D-dinner is done," Logan said, stutterring a little. Carlos had already set the table and put hot pads out.

"Where's Joanna?" I asked as I got a glass of sweet tea.

"She had to go to a fundraiser." Steve answered, anger still in his voice. I just nodded once and sat down at the table. "After dinner I want you boys to go out and feed the horses." Steve said, Carlos and Logan nodded. I knew he meant me too, but that doesn't mean I want to do it. After cleaning the horse stable I have no desire to be back in there.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

After dinner was done, the table was cleared and the dishes were cleaned, Logan, Carlos and I got changed. We made our way out to the stables and I was in a bad mood. I just wanted to get this over with and get back inside the house. Over dinner Steve had decided to add to my punishment and take my phone and computer from me for a week. They had five horses which just made taking care them even better.

"Do you know their names?" Carlos asked and I shook my head.

"No and I honestly don't care." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"How do you expect to take care of someone who you don't even know?" He asked as he grabbed a shovel.

"I can take care of a horse without knowing it's name. Besides, that doesn't make any sense! It's not like I'm going to talk to the thing." I said and he seemed shocked.

"See, that's why you need to know their names. They're not "things" they're family." He said, putting finger quotation marks around "thing". I just rolled my eyes. Carlos leaned his shovel against the wall and grabbed my arm. He led me to the first stable where a black and white horse was at.

"This is Joanna's horse, she's a girl and her name is Daisy." He said, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Carlos this is stu-" he shushed me.

"Don't talk, just listen." He said, taking me to the next one. This horse was mostly white with black on it's legs and a black spot over it's left eye and a black mane. "This is a family horse, he's a boy and his name is Malachi**(1)**." He brought me to the next one. It was a light brown color with a dark brown mane and white over the eyes.

"This is Logan's horse, he's a boy and his name is Sir." He said before taking me to the next one. This one was all white. "This is another family horse, she's a girl and her name is Kiki." The last horse was mostly black but it had some medium grey spots on it. Carlos opened the stable door and went inside.

"And this is my horse, he's a boy and his name is Dusty." He said before kissing his horse on the side of the face.

"Can we get back to getting this done now? I just want to go inside and lay down." I said in a hateful tone and Carlos sighed.

"You need to loosen up, Kendall. Carlos is just trying make you feel a little more like you belong here." Logan said in an equally hateful tone.

"I don't belong here so why would I want to feel like it? I don't care about your stupid animals! I don't care about this stupid farm! I don't care what Steve or Joanna has to say about me! And I especially don't care about you two!" I yelled at them. Carlos seemed shocked and Logan put his shovel against the wall and walked over to me. He was definiely mad.

"We didn't ask you to come here! You're parents called and told my parents that they couldn't stand you anymore! My parents weren't sure about taking you in, but after about the twentith call from you parents begging them to take you, they decided to do it! Maybe if you straightened up and stopped being such a brat you wouldn't be here! We don't care what you think about us, our farm, or our family! If you don't care about us, then why did you just lie in there for me? I can handle whatever my dad does to me! I was getting along perfectly fine before you, I don't need you to come in here now! I just wish your parents could stand you enough to take you back to Los Angeles! Ever since you've gotten here you've been a jerk! I can see why your parents wanted to get rid of you!" He yelled and as soon as the last word left his mouth, I punched him.

"Logan!" Carlos yelled, dropping his shovel and going to Logan's side. "Are you okay?" Logan was rubbing his jaw where I had hit him really hard.

"I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here! But don't you dare talk to me like that! You're calling me a brat when you're standing here telling me that my parents had every right to hate me! I would never say that to someone! So whose the real brat here?" I yelled at him, he was still on the ground. For someone whose dad beats them he sure couldn't take a hit.

"Get out." Carlos said, looking up at me.

"What?" I asked and Carlos stood up.

"I said get out!" Carlos yelled, getting close to me. I shoved him away from me and walked past him and out of the stables. I walked back inside the house and Steve was already gone. I walked over to the hooks near the front door and grabbed Logan's car keys. I walked out to his car and got in it. I started it up and tore out of the driveway, speeding down the street.

**Logan's POV:**

"Are you sure you're okay?" Carlos asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said and he nodded. We were in the house now and I was sitting at the counter. Carlos walked over to the freezer and got the blue ice pack out. He wrapped it in a towl and handed it to me. I thanked him and pressed it to my left cheek. Kendall had hit me right above my jaw line and it really hurt.

"I can't believe he did that to you." Carlos said and I sighed and removed the ice pack.

"Maybe I was a bit harsh. I mean, I didn't have to say the things I did." I said, starting to feel bad for it. Kendall was just sent away by his parents who actually did tell my parents they couldn't stand him anymore. I know what it's like to not be wanted by your parents. But even for as much as my parents hate me, they would never send me away. I can't imagine how Kendall must be feeling lately.

"He don't have any right to come here and treat us the way he does. I agree with you, if he wantin' such a brat his parents woulda never sent him away." Carlos said and I sighed.

"Yeah, but that don't make what I said right. Kendall has to be in a really bad mental state right now, I shouldn't of said those things." I said and Carlos sighed.

"Why can't you just be happy for tellin' him off like a normal person?" I laughed a little.

"I guess I'm just too nice." I said and he laughed.

"Yeah, you are." He said and I chuckled. "Do you think that'll bruise?" I shrugged.

"I don't know, he hit me hard enough for it to bruise. I figure it probably will." I said and he sighed.

"Kendall took your car." He said and I nodded once.

"I know, he won't get far though. He doesn't have any money and I only have an eighth of a tank of gas. Besides, if he don't show up within the next couple days we'll report the car stolen or something." I said, placing the ice pack back on my cheek.

**Kendall's POV:**

I pulled up to James' house and seen that his truck was in the drive-way. I got out and walked up to the door. I knocked and stepped back to wait. I heard dogs barking and then the door opened.

"Back!" The man yelled at the dogs who were at his feet. He looked up at me. He was a tall man who was a little overweight, he had brown hair that was greying and a long beard that came to his chest and mustache.

"Um, is James here?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, you're Steve's nephew ain't ya?"

"Yeah, Kendall," I said and he nodded.

"I'm Frank, James' dad. Come on in," he said, walking away, yelling at the dogs again. I walked in behind him and closed the door. There were three dogs surrounding me instantly. "Get down!" Frank yelled when a long, black haired dog jumped on me. It was a pretty dog. "Those are James' dumb dogs."

"Um, where is James?" I asked.

"I'll get him," he said, walking toward a short hallway. He banged on the door on the right. "James, someone's here to you!" He yelled through the door. He came back over and sat down in a recliner in front of the TV. James came out of his room. He seemed confused to see me.

"Kendall? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Came to see if you want to hang." I said and he looked at his dad.

"Um sure, come on," he said, motioning me to follow him. I followed him back into his bedroom. After I was in, he shut the door. His room was small, the walls had wood paneling on them, there was a window above a one person bed. He had a TV on top of his dresser and it was turned on.

"How did you get here?" James asked.

"Took Logan's car." I said as he plopped down on the bed.

"He actually let you borrow his car?" He asked in disbelief as I sat down on the bed.

"I didn't ask," I said and he chuckled.

"You stole your cousin's car?" He asked, still laughing smiling.

"Yeah," I said and he chuckled and shook his head.

"I guess I underestimated you. I didn't think you could be nearly as bad they claimed you were." He said, smiling. "Alright, well, do you want to stay here? Or take off and go do something?" He asked.

"Let's go do something. Besides that party, I haven't done anything fun since getting here." I said and he chuckled.

"That's because there's nothing fun to do here. That's why we have to make our own fun." He said and I smiled and nodded once.

**(1) Malachi is pronounced Muh-Al-Uh-Ky(like the beginning of Kyle). I was just worried some people may not know how to pronounce it. :)**

**Anyway, I have to say happy birthday to my baby sister! She's turning 8 on Wednesday (the 15th), and if you didn't know, that's also Carlos' birthday! And Joe Jonas'. So happy birthday to all of them. Oh, and I started a Facebook page for Ireland Maslow. The link is on my profile or you can just look up Ireland Maslow on Facebook and it should be the first thing that comes up. I would love to connect with y'all on there! :D**

**Review please and please go "Like" my page! :)**


	6. How Bad Can I Be?

**I'm sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! I knew exactly what I wanted and this really should have only take about a day or so, but I got really side-tracked. I'm super happy to say that I am currently working on my first book. I'm hoping to get everything written out and maybe get it published in the future. There's a lot of work that goes into a book though and I want this one to be as good as I can get it. So I've been spending a lot of time on that. Anyway, I hope everyone likes this chapter. **

**Thank you for the reviews! I really love hearing what y'all have to say! It means a lot to me that you review and read! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Logan's POV:**

I was sitting on the couch with Carlos watching TV. I still had an ice pack pressed to my cheeck. My cheek was cold enough now that it was numb which made it feel better. The ice pack wasn't frozen anymore, it was more of ice cold water. It still felt nice.

"It's been awhile since I gave you that one, do you want me to get you the other one?" Carlos offered, but I shook my head no.

"I think I'll be good for awhile." I said, placing the ice pack down beside me. "Where do you think Kendall went?" I asked causing Carlos to scoff.

"If we're lucky, far away." He said, staring at my cheek. I figure it was probably pretty bruised by now. I have a headache, but I wouldn't dare tell Carlos that. He's already furious with Kendall and worried about me. It would just add to the anger to know Kendall's punch gave me a headache. Even though it was something so simple. Carlos was like my brother so worrying was something we did for each other. I know if Kendall had hit Carlos I would be ten times more mad than what Carlos is right now. Growing up we were the only person the other felt they could turn to. We were there for each other since birth, so this wasn't anything new for Carlos to be this way.

"That wouldn't be too lucky, he has my car. Remember?" I asked and he chuckled, causing me to laugh a little too.

"Oh yeah, you might want that back." He said with a chuckle. The sound of the door opening and closing caught our attention. We looked at each other and then in the direction of the kitchen. I was hoping to see Kendall. I may not be thrilled to see him, but I want my car back. I worked long, hard hours for farmers around here to get that car. I wasn't losing it this easily. I was a bit disappointed when I saw my mom walk into the room.

"Oh my! Logan! What happened?" She asked, coming over to me.

"Um, Kendall and I got into a fight and he hit me." I explained and she seemed shocked, she came over and sat next to me.

"What were you fighting about?" She asked and I looked at Carlos.

"Carlos was telling Kendall the names of the horse's and Kendall was being real rude and mean about it. I stepped in and told Kendall that Carlos was just trying to help make him feel more at home, like he belongs here. He got mad and told me that he doesn't belong here and he doesn't want to belong here. I then... Kind of... Said some mean things to him and he hit me. Then he left and took my car. We haven't heard from him since." I told her and she sighed.

"We'll deal with this later. I'm gonna call around and see if anyones seen Kendall. Whose he been talking to at school? Maybe he went to someone's house." She said, standing up.

"He's been hangin' out with James mostly." I told her and she shook her head.

"I wish he would stay away from the likes of that boy. He ain't nothin' but trouble. That's all that boy has ever been." She said, walking into the kitchen. I know my parents don't like James, but I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, he is a trouble maker and kind of a bully, but he can be nice. He's always been nice to them when him and his dad come around here. And he doesn't cause nearly has much trouble as the other guys he hangs out with.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and lay down for awhile. My head hurts," I said, not caring if Carlos worries more about me.

"I'll bring you an ice pack up in awhile." He said and I thanked him. I stood up and walked up the stairs. My head was pounding now. I've never been in a fight before and I've never been hit like this. Sure my dad has slapped me, but never hard enough to really leave a mark. A red hand mark, many times, but never a bruise or nothing. Kendall hit me _hard_ and it really hurt. I got to my room and I closed the curtain above the desk. The sun was going down, so it would be dark soon anyway. But I want it as dark as possible right now. I walked over and got into bed. I pulled the cover up over my head and just laid there in the silence. I was hoping this headache would go away. Soon I drifted off to sleep.

**Kendall's POV:**

James and I hung around out back of a local general store. There was a small ally way behind it and on the other side of the ally was the side of the bank. Some of the guys had beers in their hands, others had blunts and some had regular ciggarettes. James I were smoking regular ciggarettes. There were a couple of girls back here, but they all were with someone. Claudia was here and she was sitting on Dak's lap, who was sitting on a stack of wooden boxes. She had a beer in her hand and her and Dak were sharing a ciggarette. James took a long drag of his ciggarette as he looked at his phone. He smiled at her blew the smoke out.

"Who wants to go race?" He asked, causing everyone to smile.

"Like street racing?" I asked and James smiled as he took another drag.

"What? You never done it?" He asked, letting the smoke out as he talked.

"I've done it before. I just don't see how you get away with it. I thought you couldn't do anything without your parents finding out." I said, taking a last drag of my ciggarette before dropping it on the ground and squishing it with my foot.

"That's why we go out of town a little ways. No one knows what we're doing and there ain't anybody out there." James said, dropping his ciggarette also. Everyone started getting up and making their way back out of the ally. I left Logan's car at James' house and rode over here with James. Everyone made their way to where they had parked their cars. They didn't park right together because, according to James, that gets all eyes on you. After we got to James' truck, we both got in and made our way down the road.

After about a twenty minutes drive we ended up on an old road with corn fields on either side. There was one corn field that had already been cut down and they all pulled into there and parked. We got out and walked over to where everyone else was standing.

"Alright, Dak is going to drive down the road and make sure it's clear." Jett said as Dak got back in his car.

"I thought you said there wasn't anybody out here?" I asked James.

"Well, no one lives out here. There are still some cattle farms and obviously the corn fields. Dak's just making sure no one is out with their cattle and there isn't anyone harvesting." James said and I nodded. I had street raced before, but the only reason we sent anyone out was to make sure there were no cops staking out somewhere to catch speeders. Some girl had a can of road paint which washes off after awhile and was marking the start/finish line. While Dak was looking two guys I couldn't remember the names of got into their cars and started them up. One was driving a big, dark blue Chevy pick-up truck that had stacks and was jacked up pretty high. The other was a copper orange Ford Lincoln.

"Wait, he's going to race a Lincoln?" I asked and James chuckled.

"Yeah, it ain't like he's gonna tear it up or nothing. This road isn't as rough as some of our others. It was re-paved back in May. Besides, he paid for most of that truck by himself. His dad paid about two thousand of it and Mark paid for the other four thousand and five hundred." He said as we made our way to the road.

"Wow, that's a nice truck. I don't think the Chevy has a chance." I said and James laughed.

"Never does," he said and I smiled. Dak came back and told us that it was clear. The trucks reved their engines and one of the girls made her way out to the side of the road. It was big enough for two trucks but that was it. Standing between them wasn't an option. The girl held her arms up and after a couple seconds she dropped them and the trucks torn down the road. They both were pretty loud. Everyone, including me, started cheering. James had explained the rules to me on the way over, they have to get to a hay field at the end of the road, turn around in it and get back here. Whoever is first, wins. The edge of the field is apparently level with the road so they can drive right into it, turn around and get back fast. After a few minutes, the trucks came back into view. We could hear them the entire time because of how loud their trucks were. Everyone began cheering as the trucks got closer. The guy in the Lincoln won.

Someone else pulled into the field, there were two guys in the truck. They both pulled themselves halfway out the window so that they were sitting on the door. They both let out what could only be defined as a redneck holler. The guys grabbed ahold of the hood of the truck and pulled themselves the rest of the way out. They put the tailgate down and got a red cooler out of the back. They came over and everyone cheered a little for some reason. These country people were so weird.

"Beer for everyone!" One of the guys shouted. People began getting beer bottles out and opening them, throwing the bottle caps back into the cooler. I grabbed one also. Two more cars lined up to begin the second race. Maybe this town wasn't going to be completely terrible.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!  
Still Kendall's POV:**

It was late when I got back to the house. James had offered to let me stay with him for the night, but I decided to go home before they call the police or something. I pulled into the drive-way and saw that the downstairs lights were still on. I was kind of hoping they would decide to deal with this in the morning and had already gone to bed. I turned the car off and got out. I slowly walked to the house, I wasn't in any hurry to get inside. I finally made it to the door and walked inside. Steve, Joanna, Carlos and Logan were all sitting in the livingroom. Logan had a pretty nasty looking bruise from where I had hit him.

"It's about time you came back!" Steve yelled, standing up the second I stepped inside. "What were you thinking?" It wouldn't take a science genius to know the two nerds ratted me out already.

"Look, I'm sorry I hit Logan and took his car. But I'm so done living here and I'm so done with these two thinking I belong here." I told them, my voice raising in volume.

"We don't think you belong here, but you could at least let us show you around and make you more comfortable. I mean, if we're stuck with you we might as well-" Steve cut Logan off.

"Shut up, you're not the victim here. None of you is a victim. Logan you should have known better than to say those things to Kendall. Carlos, if Kendall didn't want to know that name of your dumb horse, you shouldn't have made him. And Kendall, you shouldn't have hit Logan and stole his car. All of you are grounded. Carlos for one week, and Logan and Kendall for two." Steve said, neither of the other two tried to argue.

"What? You don't have the authority to ground me! I'm not your kid and you have no custody over me!" I yelled, not caring what he thought of it.

"You don't raise your voice to me. I do have authority over you because you were sent to live with _me_, under _my_ roof and told to live by _my_ rules. So you are going to do as I say." Steve said and I scoffed.

"Try and make me." I said and Steve's face litterally turned red. Before I really knew what happened, Steve's hand came into contact with the side of my face. _Hard_. I was kind of stunned that he had just smacked me.

"Steve," Joanna said in a calm and quiet voice. I knew what she was thinking, I'm not their kid, he had no right to do that. I was definitely furious now. I went to punch him, but he expected it and grabbed my wrist and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain as he let go of my wrist.

"Wanna try that again, boy?" He asked, I really thought about attacking him since I knew he wasn't expecting me to. But I could tell he was stronger than I was. I straightened up, turned my head slightly to the side and under my breath told him exactly where he should go. Causing him to smack me again. "Wanna say that again?" He asked, getting in my face. I wanted to spit in his face, but something told me that was a stupid move. So instead I shoved him away from me and stormed up the stairs. I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. I have always had anger problems, so I gripped the bed covers to keep from going back downstairs and getting into a fight. After a few minutes I heard Steve yelling some more and then the door slam. I heard two sets of feet coming up the stairs and knew it was Logan and Carlos. Instead of Logan coming into the bedroom, the feet passed by the door. I heard Carlos' bedroom door shut. I'm kind of Logan wasn't going to be in the same room as me tonight. I've had enough of him today.

I got up, grabbed my pjs and made my way to the bathroom. Once in there, I looked at myself in the mirror. Steve left a red mark on my cheek but I was pretty sure it wasn't going to leave a real mark. I sighed and got int he shower. No wonder Logan does everything his daddy says. He's a huge whimp and his dad is a lot of things I can't say. I'm really ready to get out of this house.

**So, what did you think? Originally, James and Kendall were going to go river diving (from a rope tied to a tree), but then I remembered that it's supposed to be October, so that wasn't a very good idea. I got the idea for street racing from my very own town. Lately some of the guys have been street racing in my town. Except the guys in my town aren't smart enough to take it somewhere no one will see/hear them. They do it right down the road that runs right through my town. Which usually ends in the police being called because they decide to race at 3 AM. If you've ever woken up an old farmer, you know they're not the friendliest at that time. Also, I still have my Facebook page, Ireland Maslow. Please go 'Like' the page! It would mean a lot to me. Right now, I just have funny stuff on there and some meaningful stuff, but once I actually get more people on the page, I'll post about stories and such. Not just my stories, I'll post recommendation for stories too. I need to get to reading more newer stories though, I've noticed there's a lot of new people on here that I haven't gotten the chance to read from or talk to yet. **

**Review please! :D**


	7. It's None Of My Business

**Alright, I've worked on this a little at time since the last update and it's finally done! I've recently been in a mountain of biology school work. I love biology though, so it's not too bad. I just wish there was less. I've also been doing a lot of other crap so I haven't had time to really sit down and write for long periods of time. For those of you who actually care, my book is coming along pretty good so far. Well, I can't think of anything to really say, so enjoy the chaper. :)**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And thank you to those who have "Liked" my Facebook page. :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly. **

**Logan's POV:**

It had been one week since Kendall and I got into a fight. Things were still tense between us. I also found out about my dad hitting Kendall. Which made things tense all over the house. Kendall spent more time out with James and the rest of them than he did here. I don't blame him, to be honest. I wish I could spend more time away from the house, but no one wants me around. I was still bunking with Carlos on an old mattress we had in the storage room. It was a single person matress and it wasn't very thick or comfortable. But it was better than being in the room with Kendall or on the couch.

"What'cha doin'?" Carlos asked as he sat on the floor next to me. I shrugged as I continued to write.

"Nothing, just working on my history paper." I said and Carlos sighed.

"I need to start on mine." Carlos said and I laughed a little.

"Carlos, the paper is due in two days. You haven't even started it yet?"

"I have the paper title." He said, acting as if that made a difference. I laughed and went back to writing.

"You know, I was thinking about Kendall-" I was cut off by Carlos scoffing and make a disgusted face. I knew he was still mad at him for what he did. I rolled my eyes and started again. "I was thinking about Kendall and what happened. Maybe the best thing would be for me to apologize so we can move on from this."

"Why should you apologize? I don't remember you punching him, and it wouldn't have happened if he wasn't being a jerk."

"I know I didn't punch him, but I did say some pretty mean things." Carlos rolled his eyes.

"He deserved them. He needed a wake up call. Hopefully the things you said will set into his mind and make him realize he's a jerk." I sighed at that.

"Carlos, I know he needs a wake up call, but that doesn't make what I said okay. I'm not going to feel better unless I apologize."

"Fine, be the good guy once again. Why can't you just let him have what he deserves?" Carlos asked, causing me to shake my head.

"Because no matter how someone acts, it doesn't give me the right to treat them the way I did Kendall. You, of all people, should know that. Your parents are missionaries." I said and he sighed.

"I know, forgiveness is required even when it's not your fault or the other person isn't even sorry. Treat others the way you want them to treat you. If they slap you on one cheek turn your head and offer the other. You know those are the lessons I struggle with." Carlos said and I chuckled. Carlos wasn't one to take anything from anyone. Which was why his parents had a fun time dealing with his temper toward people who hurt his friends or family. He cares way more about other people than he does himself.

"Logan!" A booming voice yelled as a door slammed shut. It was my dad. I wasn't sure what I did this time. I heard the sound of the feet pounding on the staircase. The bedroom door suddenly flew open and my dad had a look of pure anger on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to stay calm.

"I told you to move that hay to the barn when you got home. They're callin' for storms tonight. Both of you get down there and do it now!" He yelled, I had forgotten to do it. My dad had told me to move more hay into the barn with the cattle. The road to the cattle barn floods with enough rain. Which is why we always make sure the cattle have enough hay to last a couple days incase it floods. Carlos and I got up to get out shoes on. After we were done, we made our way down the stairs. I grabbed my keys as we made our way out the door. We got in the car and made our way down to the cattle field. Once we got to the field, I parked at the fence. Carlos got out and opened the fence, I drove through and he closed it. He climbed back inside and we drove down to the barn. There was a trailer full of hay sitting outside the barn. We both got out and walked over to the trailer. All this hay was to go straight to the cows. There was enough to last a few days incase it does start flooding tonight and tomorrow. The barn was on a small hill, so if the field floods the cows are safe. We both began grabbing bails of hay and taking them in to the cows.

**Kendall's POV:**

I walked up to James' trailer and heard yelling coming from the inside. There was a loud crash that kind of sounded like glass breaking. I stopped at the edge of the driveway and just listened. I could hear Mr. Diamond cussing someone out. I figured it was James he was cussing since no one else lived here but them. After about three minutes of listening to the yelling, the door opened and James came out. Just as he was shutting the door, another sound of glass breaking came. I figured it was a bottle being thrown against the door. Was he throwing it at James? James looked up and saw me standing there.

"Oh, Kendall, hey," he said, acting like nothing was going on inside.

"What's his deal?" I asked and he looked at the door and then back at me.

"He's just drunk. He gets kind of physical when he's drunk." James said and I stared at him. I kind of wanted to ask if his dad was physical with him, but it really wasn't any of my business. "Look, I don't want to talk about him right now, so don't ask." James said in an annoyed tone as if he knew what I was thinking. I just nodded once.

"Well, um, are we still going to Jett's house?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, let's go on and head that way." He said and I nodded. We both walked to James' truck and got in. Jett wasn't having a party, he just invited some people over while his parents were gone.

**At Jett's House:**

When we got to the house everyone else was already here. Most already had beers in their hands and cigarrettes. I noticed Dak had something that was definitely not a cigarrette. It was a blunt. He smiled after taking a long drag and held it out.

"Want some, Hollywood?" He asked and I shook my head. I had done a lot of things, but drugs wasn't something I wanted to get involved in. I was smarter than that. Dak shrugged. "Suit yourself." He took another drag of it and then passed it to Claudia who also took a hit.

"Let's get a drink." James told me and we made our way to the kitchen. We both grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "Have you ever tried them?" He asked, sounding really curious.

"Tried what?"

"Drugs." He said in a quiet tone.

"Once, but I don't want to get into that lifestyle. I've seen the effects it has on people's lives and bodies. Have you?" I asked and he looked at his bottle and shook his head no. He looked up and pointed toward the other room.

"They try to get me to all the time, but I don't want to do it... My dad's on drugs and it's taken a bad turn with him. I'm smart enough to not make the same mistake." He said in kind of a sad tone. I could tell there was more to the story but, just like earlier, it's none of my business.

"My best friend's dad was on drugs. That's what killed him about a year ago. It was a relief for my friend though. His old man used to smack him, his mom and sister around. So his death was their relief." I told him and James seemed to think on it pretty long. The look on his face was as if he understood it. That just led me to believe his dad was physical with him. "Does your dad-" he cut me off.

"We should get back to the others." He didn't give me time to reply before he walked away. I stood there and watched him walk to the other room. He always wore long sleeves. I had never really thought about that before, but he does. I couldn't help but think that he was hiding bruises and marks. I know it's cold out, but even indoors he always has something to cover his arms and body. No matter what his reasons were, it wasn't any of my business. I just shrugged it off and made my way back into the livingroom where everyone else was at. James was sitting on a chair and drinking his beer. He already had a cigarrette in his hand. He glanced at me briefly before looking back to Jett who was talking. I sat down in a chair near Kandi. She still flirt with me constantly, but I'm not sure I would ever do anything with her. Maybe fool around once but she wasn't really my type.

**Linebreak! Linebreak! Linebreak!**

It was starting to get late, so James and I had decided to head on home. The last thing I needed was to listen to Steve and his crap tonight. James dropped me off at the house and said bye. All night he had been acting kind of weird around me. I wasn't entirely sure why, but I figured it had something to do with his dad. Maybe his dad really was hurting him and he was afraid I would say something. I just brushed it off and walked inside the house. When I made it to my room, Logan was in there at his desk. He turned and seen me. He instantly began gathering his things to leave.

"I don't care if you're in here." I sighed, I really didn't want to be around him, but it was his room. I also kind of wanted to ask him about something but wasn't entirely sure if I should. I wanted to ask about James, but it was James' life and it wasn't any of my business what happened in it. Logan just nodded and sat all his stuff down on the desk. He sat back down and began working again. I stared at him as he worked and I noticed a bruise on his neck. It didn't look like a hickey and honestly how could he even get a girl to look at him, it was dark though. It looked pretty bad.

"What happened?" I asked, pointing at the mark on his neck. He reached up and placed a hand over it.

"Nothing," he said and then turned away from me.

"What do you know about James' dad?" I asked and he shrugged, putting his pencil down.

"He's an alcoholic and drug addict, he's kind of mean, he doesn't really like company... He started acting that way about eight years ago when his wife was killed. James was only nine at the time." Logan explained. My mind went to the way that James had acted earlier and I was curious if his dad had hurt his mom.

"Was his dad ever physical with his mom or him?" I asked and Logan looked at me.

"Physical how?"

"Like did he ever hurt them?" Logan got quiet and stared at the floor.

"It was rumored but never proven. Brooke used to have bruises all the time, but she was happy. She always smiled and laughed and she was crazy about James. According to what people say anyway. I don't remember much about her. I remember her and James used to come to the house a lot, and she would pick me up after school along with some other kids. Everyone always said that James was a momma's boy. He loved her more than anything. Then when she died he just kind of... shut down." I looked at him in confusion. I didn't know why I wanted to know more, but I did.

"What do you mean he, 'shut down'?"

"James was actually really nice when he was younger. He used to love people and he talked to everyone. Carlos and I were actually friends with him when he was younger. Then his mom died and he just changed. It was a couple days after her funeral that he became different. Everyone said he was just mad and frustrated and that it would go away after time. But it never really did. He would get into fights and just seemed angry all the time. His mom death took a real toll on him, and his dad wasn't much help. He was already an alcoholic before Brooke's death, but afterward he just stayed drunk all the time. He wasn't really there to comfort James through it. So James was left to figure out his feelings alone and try to sort through what happened. A lot of people told Frank that he should put James in therapy or something to help him, but Frank refused. He said that James was fine and he just needed time to get over it." I couldn't help but feel bad for James.

"Do you think his dad is abusive?" I asked, I wasn't sure why I did. It just kind of came out.

"I don't know, most people think he is but they've never tried to do anything to prove it. If he is then they're kind of leaving James alone the same way his dad did with his mom's death. I tried talking to James a few days after his mom's funeral, but he wouldn't talk to me. He told me to leave him alone. That was the last time we actually talked. Since then he's been a jerk to Carlos and me so we never really tried talking to him." Logan explained and I just stayed quiet. I was thinking about everything Logan had just told me. "Kendall, I'm sorry about the things I said that day in the barn. I had no right to do that." I looked up at him kind of surprised he apologized.

"Well, I'm sorry for hitting you and all that stuff." I said and he just nodded once and turned back to his homework. "Does your dad hurt you?" I asked out of confusion. I still don't like Logan, but I don't like seeing people get hurt for no reason either. Logan's body stiffened and he didn't look at me, which told me I was right. Steve is abusive.

"He doesn't mean to do it." Logan finally said and I stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, "he doesn't mean to do it?" He took a swing at me the other day and I'm pretty sure he meant to do it." I said and Logan shook his head.

"My dad just looses control sometimes, but he doesn't mean to hurt anyone." Logan said, finally looking at me.

"Bull," I said and Logan sighed.

"You haven't been around him enough." Logan said in a quiet tone.

"Alright, whatever." I said as Logan turned back around. I knew I was right and that Steve was a heartless child abuser but Logan apparently had been brainwashed to not see it that way. But if he wanted to continue living life this way then who was I to try to change it. It's his life not mine. The same way it is with James. Even though I'm curious about James' home-life it doesn't give me the right to try to change his life. If he comes to me and says he wants help, I'll help him, but otherwise I should just stay out of it. That's exactly what I'm going to do with both James and Logan.

**What did you think? And don't think Kendall is going to start being nice now because he's not. From this point on we'll see a little more of who Kendall really is and a little more of who James really is. I do have one question though, do you want me to do James' POV in the next chapter or wait a couple more chapters and then put it in? I'm not sure if you would think the next chapter is too soon or just right. **

**It will probably be awhile before I update again. Thanksgiving is next week so I'll be pretty busy with the family and such. Also the 29th is my birthday so I'll be busy with that and family once again. And then back to school after Thanksgiving week and my birthday. So, updates might not be until the beginning of December which is when I'll actually get the time to write probably. **

**And if you want, you can still look me up on Facebook. Just look up Ireland Maslow and it should be the first thing that comes up. :)**

**Review please! :)**


	8. A Lost Diamond

**Okay, so I wanted to give y'all a glimpse inside the mind of James Diamond. I hope maybe this gives you a little idea of how he really is and maybe you'll see him differently. Also, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, but I had computer problems and then just didn't have motivation to write. But, I've found the motivation and I'm starting to write a lot more now. So hopefully updates will become a regular thing again. But I'm not making promises here. :D**

**Thank you soo much for continuing to support me and read my stories. Y'all are amazing!**

**Disclaimer: Seriously? You think you would EVER see James Maslow again if I actually owned him? Or any of the guys for that matter.**

**James' POV:**

I walked inside the trailer and heard my dad snoring in his chair. He hardly ever slept in his own room, he just slept wherever he passed out. Normally he really was passed out from drinking. But tonight he was just sleeping. I tried to be silent as I walked through the livingroom. The last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. I finally got to my bedroom in the back of the trailer. I shut my door quietly and went to my closet. I grabbed a pair of black sweat pants and a grey t-shirt and got changed. I would go take a shower, but I had to be as quiet as possible when home at night. I climbed on to my bed and grabbed my Ipod. I started listening to my playlist and checked my phone. I didn't have any texts, so I just laid there and stared at the ceiling. It was always boring to be home but there wasn't much I could do about it. I pulled my earbuds out and moved to sit at the head of my bed. I opened the window above my bed and pulled my cigarettes and lighter out from under my pillow. My dad doesn't normally care what I do, but he doesn't like me drinking or smoking because it makes him look like a bad parent. I put the cigarette in my mouth and lit it.

I made sure to hold it and blow my smoke out the window. I try my hardest to make sure he can't smell it which isn't really hard. Our trailer is covered in ash and full of smoke, so he can never tell if I've been smoking or it's just from being in the house. Our house smells like smoke and beer all the time anyway. Which is why I hate having friends over. When my dad gets home from work he goes straight to his chair with his beers and smokes. I finished my cigarette and threw the butt out the window. I shut my window and laid down on my bed. I read a text I had from a girl Jett introduced me to, Meg. She's a college girl and has a thing for younger guys apparently. The text was kind of sexual, so I didn't reply. I wasn't into girls like that. I don't want to date a girl who only wants to have sex.

I started to text Kendall but stopped before sending it. I deleted the text. I didn't want to seem like some uncool, desperate-for-a-friend, geek. I like Kendall though. He's not like my other friends but yet he kind of is. He's more mature and responsible in some areas than Dak or Jett. My phone went off about three times before I finally checked the messages. They were all from Meg and they were all dirty. One was a picture of her with her shirt off and her arm covering her breasts and her shorts were pulled down to about mid-thigh and she had on a purple thong, she had typed, 'like what you see?' on the text also. I instantly deleted it. I turned my phone off and laid it beside me. I rolled onto my stomach and reached under the bed to pull out a picture frame. It was of my mom. It was taken two months before she was killed. I really missed her.

My mom had always told me to make good decisions. Even at the young age of nine she tried to teach me not to get into smoking or drinking. I had really failed her with that. I've been drinking since I was twevle because of some guys Dak, Jett and I had started hanging out with. They were high schoolers and they introduced us to the party life we have now. My mom wouldn't be proud of my choices and I knew that. She was kind of the main reason I stopped getting drunk. Everytime I would be hung over I would think of Mom and how she would probably have cried if she seen me like that. I want to stop smoking because I know she would cry about that too. If she cried the first time I skipped class, I have a feeling she would sob if she saw me now. I loved my mom and I wouldn't want to see her like that.

The only thing I think she would be proud of was that I'm still a virgin. The guys don't know that and they never will but I am. I had learned about sex by accident when I was eight. It was from the teenage guy who lived next door. I had gotten close to him and my mom had been worried about me having an older friend. I had walked in on him watching a dirty video. I got curious and asked him about it and he proceeded to tell an eight year old all about where babies come from. My mom found somehow, she and my dad sat me down to talk to me about what he had told me. I told them what he said and they explained a little farther. My mom explained that sex is something that should only be between a married couple. She made me promise not to do anything like that until I was married. That was the only promise I haven't broken. I came close once though. I had been making out with a really hot girl and it got far enough to where we were taking clothes off. But my mom came to mind in the middle of removing my jeans and I couldn't do it. I had pulled my jeans back up, grabbed my shirt and ran out of the room. She then told everyone what happened the next day and I was teased for it. They teased me for still being a virgin, which was when my lies of girls I'd slept with began. It was never girls they could ask about it though. It was always random girls at parties that I didn't know and couldn't really remember her. It was a safer lie.

I stared at the picture of my mom for a little while longer before feeling terrible about all the things I had done.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I whispered and then slid the picture back under the bed. I really miss her. Especially on days like this where my dad is already passed out. My dad never drank when she was alive. I actually spent time with him, he never yelled at me, he was just my dad. Everything fell apart after mom died. She litterally was what kept our family together. Now my dad's messed up, I'm messed up and our relationship is messed up. I haven't talked to my dad in seven years, we yell at each other all the time though. I haven't just gone out and did something with my dad since about six months after mom's death. He just kind of gave up on me I guess. Without mom, there wasn't a reason to want me around anymore. So basically when I lost my mom I also lost my dad. Because that man in the other room sure isn't the dad I used to have.

"Go get something for dinner." My dad said as he opened my door. His voice was mean and demanding, same as always. I got up and put my shoes on. I knew better than to deny my dad. It never turned out good. I grabbed a dark blue hoodie and put it on. I walked into the kitchen and found some money on the counter. I grabbed it and walked out the front door. I got in my truck and fired it up. I wasn't sure what my dad wanted, but I figured I would go with his favorite. I drove into town and down to the little cafe named Suzy's Place. I parked in the small parking-lot and climbed out.

"Hey sweetie, picking up dinner?" Suzy asked as I walked in. She was someone I had known since I was born. She was my mom's best friend growing up. She was the only thing that stayed the same after my mom died. She never changed. I kind of wondered how she managed to stay the same when her best friend just died. Suzy was an average height woman, she had a little weight on her, but not too much. She had dark blonde hair, tan skin and was actually really beautiful and she had bright blue eyes that would make you admit anything. She was good at giving you certain looks. I smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, dad sent me to pick up something for dinner." I said and she nodded. She knew how my dad was. She knew the things he had gotten into and she knew the way he treated me. She never asked me about any of it because she knows I don't like it. She doesn't pretend it's not happening, she just doesn't ask.

"Do you want the usual?" She asked and I nodded. "You got it, hun." Our usual was meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans for my dad; and mine's was a double cheeseburger and fries. She put the order in to the cook and grabbed the coffee pot. She filled the cups of a table of older men. As she put the coffee pot back she looked up at me.

"How's school been going? I heard you've gotten pretty buddy-buddy with that new kid." She said as she leaned on her elbows on the counter.

"Yeah, he's okay, I've hung out with him a few times." I said and she smiled.

"I wish you would get away from that Jett kid. He's bad news, James," she said and I nodded. She did this everytime we talked about my friends. She never had liked Jett or Dak. "You know, that boy was in here the other day and I had to have Rex throw him out. He came in and was obviously stoned. He was being a real jerk to some girl that was in here. I told him to knock it off or leave, and told me to shut my old... Butt up." She said, I knew Jett said the bad version of butt, Suzy doesn't cuss so she wouldn't repeat it. "He's lucky I just had Rex handle it. I should have called Rob down the street here and had him come handle that kid. He'd put his loud mouth straight. When Rex was throwing him out, you should have heard the things he was callin' me." Hearing Suzy tell me about how Jett treated her made me mad. Suzy had always been like an aunt, and since my mom died she kind of tried to take the role of a mother in my life. I loved her more than anyone in my life right now. I knew Jett was a jerk to people all the time, but he knew how Suzy fit into my life and family was always off limits for him. I looked up and saw Suzy staring at me.

"James, I'm heading to my mom's this weekend, do you want to go with me? I'd love to have you along for the ride? You can even see if that new kid you've been hanging around wants to tag along. I don't know what it is, but there is something about that boy that I like. He's different than other boys." She said and I smiled.

"Alright, that sounds nice," I said. I knew she was just asking me to go to keep me away from Jett this weekend, but it would be nice to spend time with her. Rex, the cook, got my order done and handed Suzy the to-go boxes. I handed Suzy the money and she quickly gave me the change.

"I'll call you and let you know when I'll be picking you up. And don't forget to invite your little friend." She said as I started toward the door.

"I will, see you later." I said and then went to my truck. I put the food in the passenger seat and then climbed into the drive side. The whole way home I felt angry. How could Jett go into Suzy's Place stoned and be a jerk to Suzy. He's lucky I wasn't there. I would of ended up punching him. I pulled into the drive-way and parked. I got our food and went inside. My dad was in his chair with a beer in his hand and the TV on. I sat the countainers down on the counter and opened them to see which was which. I grabbed a fork and took my dad's food to him. Neither of us said a thing to each other. I put the rest of my dad's money down on the counter. I grabbed the bottle of ketchup out of the fridge and headed to my room with my food. I sat down on my bed and turned on my little TV. I flipped through the channels and then settled on the local news. I ate as I watched the news.

After I finished eating, I leaned back against the head of my bed. The local news had gone off, but the world news was on now. Nothing was ever on TV worth watching. We only have local channels, so there were like five channels. I thought about what Suzy had said. I kind of wondered if Kendall would even want to go. Suzy's mom, Boots, lives two hours south from here in a small town called Jordan Village. It was about the same size as Rotterdale, but maybe a little bigger. There wasn't really much to do there, but visit people. Becky had kind of adopted me as her grandson so when I was a kid I would go stay with her on weekends or a few days in the summer. I really missed her so I was excited to be going. I hadn't seen her in about a year now. I picked up my phone and text Kendall.

**Wanna hang? -James.** I sent the text before I listened to the news people talk about some freak storm up north. My phone buzzed and I opened the text.

**Where at? -Kendall.** I thought about it and then decided we could go hang out at Suzy's Place. That was kind of a hang out in town.

**Wanna meet at Suzy's Place? -James. **

**Sure, meet ya there. -Kendall. **I got up and put my shoes back on. I grabbed my wallet, keys and cell phone before walking out the door. My dad was sitting in his chair watching TV. He never cared when I left or how long I was gone. I walked out and got in my truck. When I pulled up to the cafe I saw Logan's car sitting there and knew Kendall was already here. How did he get here before me? I parked and walked inside.

"Back for desert?" Suzy asked from behind the counter.

"Well, you do make the best sugar pie ever." I said and she winked at me.

"Sugar pie it is." She said as she turned and started toward the kitchen.

"Make it two!" I shouted to her, she waved her hand over her shoulder so I knew she heard me. I looked around and saw Kendall sitting at a table with a coffee cup in his hands. I walked up and sat down.

"Were you already in town when I texted you?" I asked, he nodded as he took a drink.

"Yeah, I stayed in town after school," he said. I could tell there was something deeper to that, but I wasn't going to ask. "So you know that lady?" He pointed toward Suzy and I nodded.

"Yeah, she was my mom's best friend. I've known her litterally since the day I was born." I said and he raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, besides my family, I don't think I've known anyone since I was born." He said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, when you live in the same small town your parents grew up in, you tend to know people from the day you're born." We both laughed a little.

"Two pieces of my famous sugar pie!" Suzy said, her strong southern accent ringing out. She placed two plates down on the table, each with a very large slice of pie on them. "Enjoy boys," she said.

"Thank you, Suzy." I said as I picked up my fork. She gave us a smile and then walked away. I took a bite of the pie and moaned as I leaned my head. "She makes the best pie!" I said as I brought my fork down to the plate again. I noticed Kendall poking at the pie.

"What's wrong? Don't you like pie?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but I like normal pie. What is this?" I chuckled.

"It's sugar pie." I said as if that summed it up completely.

"It looks like... some kind of tan milk that got lumpy and turned to a solid jell thing." He said and I laughed.

"It's tan because it has cinnamon in it. Just try it, it's amazing!" He poked at it again and then decided to take a bite. He shrugged.

"That's actually really good," he said and I held my hands out to my side a little.

"What'd I tell ya?" He chuckled and took another bite. We talk about random things as we finished our pie.

"You boys doing okay over here?" Suzy asked as she came over. We both nodded and complimented her amazing pie. She put her arm around my shoulders and leaned her waist against the back of the booth. "So are you going with us?" She asked, looking at Kendall. He seemed confused.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask him," I said. Suzy brought her hand up and smacked my cheek gently. Not enough to hurt, just like a small tap.

"He's just too forgetful." She said, looking at Kendall. "I'm heading to Jordan Village this weekend to my mama's house. I asked James if he wanted to go and he was supposed to see if you wanted to tag along too."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude." Kendall said and Suzy swatted her hand out in a 'don't worry about it' kind of way.

"Mama loves company, and besides, I'm going down there to get some of my old junk out of the attic. I won't be much fun for James, so I thought it would better for him to bring one of his friends. Preferrably one I can stand." She said with a slight laugh although I knew she wasn't joking. She really couldn't stand the other people I hang around.

"Um, okay, if you're sure you don't mind." He said and Suzy chuckled.

"Of course we don't mind! But, you do need to get permission from Steve and Joanna." Suzy said and Kendall nodded. I kinda wondered if Steve would allow Kendall to go, he was hard on Logan, but I didn't know if he was the same way with Kendall.

"I'll ask tonight," Kendall said and Suzy nodded. The bell on the door rang and Suzy walked away to go greet the people. "So, what's Jordan Village like?"

"Um, it's pretty much the same as it is here. But the buildings and houses are older. And there's a creek that runs through the center of the town and a covered bridge over the creek. It's actually a really nice town." I said as I waved Missy over. Missy is one of the waitresses here and I've gone to school with her since pre-school. We never were really close, but we talked every now and then.

"What can I get'cha?" She asked as she leaned on the table.

"Sweet tea, please," I said and she smiled.

"You got it. You want anything?" She asked Kendall, he thought for a moment.

"I'll take a sweet tea also." He said and she nodded. She walked away and went to get our drinks. "You know, you're nothing like Jett and Dak." Kendall said as he played with a napkin.

"What do you mean?" I asked although I was sure I already knew. I really wasn't like them, I never had been. I wasn't rude, mean, a troublemaker, careless, into being drunk or high constantly. The way I act at school when they're around is just a front I put up to make people believe I'm like them.

"I mean, you don't act like they do. Well, in school you do, but outside school you don't. I'm beginning to think that you're actually nothing like them, you just pretend." I felt small under Kendall stare. I knew he was more like they were inside and outside school. It kind of scared me because Jett and Dak don't know any other side of me but the one I use around them. Would Kendall tell them I'm nothing like they think?

"I don't, I just have different sides to me, I guess," I said, trying to play it off cool. Hopefully he would drop it. Missy came back and placed our drinks on the table with two straws. She walked away again and Kendall looked back at me.

"Whatever you say." He said as he took a sip of his tea. I began drinking my tea also. I couldn't help but wonder how Kendall would act if he learned I'm not really the way people think I am. Kendall and I sat there and talked for about another hour and then we decided to leave. I got in my truck and headed home. I heard a rumble of thunder and sighed. I hated when it stormed -or even rainned- because the roof on our trailer leaks in some places. I pulled into the drive-way just as the rain started to fall. By the time I got in the house it was pouring outside. Dad wasn't in his chair, which was weird, and he didn't have the buckets out yet. I walked into the kitchen and got a few buckets out from under the sink and placed them where water was dripping through the roof. I hate this crappy place but my dad would never spend his drug and beer money to fix anything around here. I remember when I was thirteen I had to mow lawns in order to get my stupid window fixed after it got busted out by one of my dad's dumb friends. And I had to get a job -which I got fired from- in order to get my crappy trunk. Now I just do chores for people around town whenever they need it in order to pay for gas, in the summer I still mow. I really need to get some kind of job.

I felt my arm being grabbed and was yanked upright while placing the last bucket near dad's chair.

"Where the heck were you at? You have dishes and laundry to do!" My dad yelled as his grip on my arm tightened.

"I was at Suzy's Place with Kendall," I said and he made a disgusted noise.

"I can't stand that woman. Get to cleaning!" He shouted as he shoved me forward toward the kitchen. I almost fell to the floor but was able to catch my balance. Dad sat down in his chair and I walked toward the kitchen with anger burning inside me. If it weren't 'that woman' my dad wouldn't have a place to live. She was the one who helped pay for this trailer when we lost the house, she helped with the bills a lot over the years, she helped dad take care of me after mom died, she helped my dad with everything after mom died. But he can't stand her? He probably wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her! I sighed at the mess in the kitchen. It wasn't just a sink full of dishes, there was food and some kind of sticky liquid on the counter and the floor was really dirty. What in the world did my dad do today? I sighed and removed the dishes from the sink and began placing them on the counter. I had a stack of plates, bowls, silverware and cups on the counter as I filled one side of the sink with soapy water. I turned to grab a towl and my elbow hit the stack of plates. Before I could do anything the sound of glass smashing sounded through the trailer. My dad was infront of me in a second.

"What the heck did you do? You worthless piece of... You better get this cleaned up now!" He yelled at me as he got right in my face. "GET IT CLEANED UP!" He yelled before he smacked me hard. He grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground. I felt pain shoot up my arm as glass dug into my hands. I moved back to sit on my knees and looked at my hands that were bleeding now. I hissed in pain as I pulled a chunk of white glass out of my right palm. A black trash bag was thrown at me. My dad walked away, cussing me under his breath. I didn't bother with worrying about my hands right now. I just picked up the glass. I yanked my hand back when a sharp piece of glass sliced my finger. When I was finished with the pieces I could pick up, I noticed there were drops of blood on the floor. It wasn't the first time my blood was on this floor because of dad. I got up and placed the trash bag to the side. I grabbed some paper towls and dapped at the blood on the floor. After it was cleaned up, I got the broom and swept the rest of the glass up. After I was done, I looked over to see my dad in his chair. He was awake, but not paying attention. I walked to the bathroom and turned the sink on. I rinsed my hands off and then got the proxide. After cleaning my cuts, I wrapped them up in gauze for now.

I walked back out and went back to clean the kitchen, starting with the rest of the dishes.

"You're gonna go tomorrow and buy more plates since you just broke most of them! I don't know why your mom ever wanted you! You're nothing but a screw up!" Dad said with hatred from his place in the kitchen.

"Yes sir," I said with tears in my eyes. It hurt when he said stuff like that because at one time he wanted me too. He used to love me, but maybe that was just because of Mom. Maybe with her gone, he has no reason to love me anymore. My hands stung as the soapy water soaked my cuts, but I had to get this done. I just wanted to get the kitchen cleaned and the laundry done so I could go to bed. I just wanted to be locked in my room where I felt safe. Even if the feeling was just for a few hours. It was better than nothing.

**My poor baby! I felt so bad making him get hurt! So, I hope you're kind of getting the idea of where this story's direction is actually going. Also, Jordan Village is a real place, I can't remember where it's at, there might be more than one for all I know. My uncle travels a lot for work and he went to a town called Jordan Village once and I love the name, so I decided to use it. I'm not sure what Jordan Village actually looks like, I do know it was a small town though. From this chapter on, the rest of the story will unfold. And in the next couple of chapters you'll get to see who is the cutter. It may surprise you, it may not, we'll see. **

**Also, you can still look me up on Facebook. I post random stuff and I post when and what I've updated. :)**

**Review please! **


	9. Secrets Hurt

**Well, here's another chapter, hopefully you guys like this, and I hope it's not too fast paced or anything. This is kind of an important chapter because it really sets the scene for the rest of the story, so I really do hope it's good. **

**Thank you for the reviews! I love hearing from you all! Also, thank you for the favorites/follows on both the story and on me as an author! It means so much! **

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them... I'm working on it though! Lol**

**Kendall's POV:**

After leaving Suzy's Place I headed home. James acted really weird after I told him he was different than Jett and Dak. I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious why he was so different yet so close to them. I decided to just forget it, it's none of my business how he wants to act. I pulled into the drive-way and parked Logan's car in his usual spot. I walked inside the house and went straight up to the bedroom. I tossed Logan his keys when I walked. He tried to catch them, but it had startled him so they hit the floor. He leaned down and picked them up.

"Thanks," he said as he placed the keys on his desk. I flopped down on my bed and closed my eyes. I was really tired for some reason. Suddenly I remembered Suzy's invite, so I got back up.

"Think your parents would mind if I went somewhere for the weekend?" I asked and Logan shrugged as he wrote something on a paper.

"Depends where you're going and with who." He said, he still didn't stop writing. I kind of wondered if Steve had something to do with his intense concentration. I stood up and walked out the door, leaving him to his homework. I found Steve and Joanna in the kitchen.

"Hi Kendall," Joanna said as she wiped down the counter. I nodded at her.

"Hey, Suzy, the owner of Suzy's Place, invited me and James to go with her to Jordan Village this weekend. Care if I go?" I asked and Joanna looked at Steve. It looked like she wanted to answer, but she was giving Steve a chance to answer first.

"Fine by me," he said and Joanna smiled.

"Suzy's such a sweet lady, you'll have fun with her. But that James kid I still think he's-" Steve cut Joanna off.

"As long as you can take Logan and Carlos with you." He said which caused me to groan. I thought I was going to have a weekend away from everyone in this house. Why does he think he has to ruin everything?

"Suzy didn't invite them," I said, sounding a bit rude, but I didn't care. He shrugged.

"Either all three of you go, or nobody goes." He said, taking a drink of his beer. I didn't say anything because I didn't feel like fighting with him. I just went out onto the back porch. I could hear Joanna telling Steve that it wasn't fair to force me to take Logan and Carlos. I agreed, but Steve didn't. He told her, in a raised tone, that nobody was going if we didn't all three go. I walked over and sat on the porch steps. I pulled my phone out and called James. He didn't answer. I tried again, still no answer. That was odd, normally he instantly picked up. I decided to just text him.

**Steve says I can't go this weekend unless Logan and Carlos also go. -Kendall**. I hit send and then just sat there and listened to the rain. the roof came out over the top steps, so I wasn't getting wet. I never have liked rain and never will. The door opened behind me and Steve stuck his head out.

"Get inside and get ready for bed." He said in a demanding tone before going back inside. I couldn't help but wonder if my parents knew how Steve actually was? If they do, then that's proof they don't care about me. Even though I'm already sure they don't. I haven't even gotten a text from either of them since I got here. When I left, they didn't care. My dad drove me to the airport and dropped me off out in the parking-lot, and not even near the door. He just pulled in, put the brakes on and let me get out and get my bags. After I had my stuff, he said bye and left. I don't know why I didn't just leave and go somewhere else. For some reason I still got on the plane and came here. I guess I just wanted my parents to want me. I'm mad they sent me here, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe they're happier now that I'm gone. Maybe they figure I won't come back. Maybe dad figured I wouldn't even get on the right flight. Maybe him leaving me that way was his way of saying he was abandoning me. It hurt to think like that, but the more and more I thought about it the more it made sense. My mom didn't even get up to say bye to me that morning. She just let me leave.

"Kendall! I said get ready for bed!" Steve yelled as he came back out. He turned and went back inside, slamming the door behind him. It also hurt to think that my parents possibly knew what kind of person they were putting me in a house with. How much do you have to hate your own kid in order to put them in a house with someone like Steve? I figured if Steve has to come back out it'll be bad, so I got up and headed inside. I went upstairs and grabbed my stuff before going to take a shower. I took a quick shower and put my black pj pants on with a white t-shirt. When I got back to the bedroom Logan was already in bed but his stirring told me he wasn't asleep yet. I flipped the desk lamp off and got into bed. I grabbed my phone and seen I had a text from James.

**I'll talk to Suzy, I'm sure she'll let them go also. -James. **The only problem was I don't want them going. I thought maybe I would be able to get away from these geeks for a couple days but of course, Steve had to ruin it.

**Grreeaatt. -Kendall.** That was all I wrote. I set my phone down and got comfortable. It wasn't long before I was asleep.

**Next Morning:**

School was boring as usual. The only reason I was enjoying being here was because my morning did not start out very good. I had to listen to Steve scream at Logan and Carlos all morning. I wanted to step in so bad and tell Steve exactly where he needed to go. But instead, I had just gotten up and got dressed. I walked to school this morning because I wanted to get out of the house, there was still two hours until school started and I didn't want to go with Carlos and Logan. I felt bad for the guys but what was I supposed to do? I figure letting them be alone was a good choice, they could talk to each other, something they don't really do when I'm around. I sighed and leaned back in my desk chair as the teacher rambled on and on about some war. I looked over and saw Logan hunched over his paper as he took notes. I noticed a bruise on his right cheek and knew exactly where it came from.

I may not like Logan, but I hated seeing him getting hurt. He's a good kid, he listens to his parents (even if they are jerks), never does anything he's not suppose to, gets good grades, listens in school. I don't get why Steve was so mean to him. Most parents would love their kid to be like Logan. I've been a terrible kid to my parents and they have never once laid a hand on me. Even when I honestly think I deserved a smack to the side of the head, they wouldn't do it. I really think this whole thing is messed up. I jumped when a hand smacked down on my desk.

"Knight! Pay attention." The teacher said before walking back to the front of the class. I sighed and tried to pay attention even though I had no idea what he was talking about. Finally the bell rang and it was time to head to lunch. I gathered my books and headed to my locker. I shoved all my stuff inside the locker and headed to the cafeterria. I hadn't seen James yet and I wondered if he would show up at lunch like he did that one day. But, that day we all had been drinking the night before, I don't think James had been drinking last night. But I could be wrong. I got my food which was some kind of tuna noodle junk, I also got a salad, chocolate milk and a cookie. I sat down at the table Jett, Dak and the rest were sitting at.

"Have you talked to James today?" I asked as I opened my milk.

"No, why?" Dak asked.

"He's not here today." I said and they shrugged.

"Who knows, normally he doesn't miss school unless we've been partying. His old man doesn't like him skipping." Jett said and I kind of wondered if he was okay.

"Do you think he's sick or something? Maybe I should try calling him." I said and they both laughed.

"Wow, Kendall, I didn't know your door swung that way." Dak joked, I was really confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I didn't know you had the hots for James." Dak said while chuckling

"I don't! I'm not gay! What does any of this have to do with me being gay?"

"I don't know, maybe because you care so much about him that you want to call him." Dak said, he had everyone at the table laughing.

"Then again, with the way James is about his looks, I'm sure it wouldn't take much to get him to let you do him." Jett laughed.

"Maybe that's why he's still a virgin, he's waiting for the right _**guy**_ to take it from him." Joel joked, making everyone laugh more.

"Well, it is weird that he's seventeen and still a virgin." Toby said.

"I know, I made out with him once at a party and when I tried to undo his pants, he ran so fast you would have thought the building caught fire!" Kandi said while laughing hard.

"The sad part is that he thinks nobody knows he's a virgin! He doesn't exactly hide it! He's so pathetic!" Joel said, causing more laughter. I couldn't believe they were talking about him like this. I stood up and grabbed my tray.

"You guys are jerks! All of you! How can you say things like that about him?" I shouted, getting some people at the surrounding tables to look at me.

"Oh, come on, we're just joking." Jett said and I shook my head.

"No, "joking" would have ended with you teasing me about wanting to call him! That's a joke! What you guys are doing is bullying! You're the pathetic ones! James has been through enough crap with losing his mom, he doesn't need his so-called "friends" making fun of him behind his back! It's really sad that you would be willing to hurt him just to get a laugh! You are all beyond pathetic! Does James even know what kind of low-lives he hangs out with? You guys think you're so cool because of what you do, but you know what, you're all just a bunch of bullies that nobody likes! People don't admire you, they fear you! They know what kind of jerks you are! And now, so do I." I yelled at them and then I started to walk away but I stopped and turned back to look at them. They all seemed shocked at what I said. "And you know what Kandi, maybe he ran away because he didn't want to be on your list of rounds you had to make." And with that I walked away. Kandi was cussing me out, but I didn't care. I walked over and sat down at the table Logan and Carlos were at. Yeah, I was that mad. I knew they were the only people who could possibly hate everyone at that table as much as I do now. I actually felt really good about what I said.

"Dude! That was awesome!" Carlos said, basically bouncing in his seat. Even Logan was smiling a little. Telling them off was probably something a lot of people in this school wanted to do. I pulled out my phone and dialed James' number. It rang a few times and then he picked up.

"Hey," he didn't sound sick.

"Hey, you doin' okay?" I asked and I heard him chuckle.

"Yeah, my dad is sick, so I stayed home to take care of him. Did you seriously only call to check on me?" He asked and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Uh, yeah, I was just checking to make sure you weren't sick or anything."

"It's cool, man, I appreciate you thinking about me." He didn't seem sarcastic as he said it. It seemed sincere, like he really did mean it. "Oh, I talked to Suzy, she said that Logan and Carlos can come if they want, she doesn't care." James said and I sighed as I looked across the table. Logan and Carlos were talking about some show they watch about a time traveling doctor.

"Alright, I'll let them know, well, hey, I have to go." I said and he laughed a little.

"Yeah, I figured. Talk to ya later, bro," he said, I told him bye and then we hung up.

"He said you two could go with us this weekend." I said and Logan and Carlos looked at each other.

"I'm really sorry Dad ruined your weekend by telling you that. We'll go so you can go, but we'll stay out of the way. We don't want to make the weekend worse for you." Logan said and Carlos nodded in agreement. I just gave them a nod as a way to say thanks. I finished eating right as the bell rang. I quickly made my way to the next class which was science. We got to work in pairs to go through and classify different organisms into their Kingdoms and all that. I actually kind of like Biology and I was pretty good in the class.

"Kendall Knight and Dak Zevon," Mr. Sanchez read off. I looked over at Dak and he glared back. I raised my hand. "Yes, Mr. Knight?"

"Can I be paired with somebody else?" I asked and he looked around the room.

"I've already paired everyone else up. Is anyone willing to trade partners?" He looked around again. I was hopeful that somebody would raise their hand. A hand shot up in the back of the room. It was Carlos. He had been paired with a kid named Jake.

"I will Mr. Sanchez." Carlos said and I sighed. I guess it's better than Dak.

"Are you okay with that, Mr. Dillions?" Mr. Sanchez asked while looking at Jake. He just nodded his head and Mr. Sanchez motioned for Carlos to go ahead and move. He came up and sat next to me.

"I figured after what happened during lunch, you were really hopeful to have a new partner." Carlos whispered to me, I just smiled a little and nodded. Mr. Sanchez passed out the papers for the specimen classification, the paper with the Simple Biological Key written on it, the slides of microscopic organisms and papers with macroscopic organisms listed. "Do you want to start with the microscopic or the macroscopic?" Carlos asked as he held a slide in one hand and the paper in the other.

"Let's do microscopic first since it'll take longer." I said and he nodded. He prepared the slide carefully and placed it under the microscope. He looked first and then I did and we began using the Biological Key to identify the specimen and write it all down. We continued to work until the microscopic part was done. We then moved onto the macroscopic which didn't take nearly as long. We managed to identify all the animals and plants without difficulty. When we got done, we had ten minutes left of class. We handed our paper in and then sat there and waited for the bell to ring. It finally did and we all gathered our stuff and headed to our lockers.

The next class was gym. When we walked in after getting dressed we found out we would be playing dodge ball, and guess who all were on the _**opposite**_ team from me? Jett, Dak, Joel, and Toby. I'm screwed. We began playing and the four guys were throwing the ball with a lot of force in my direction. Luckily I had dodged all of them. I managed to slam one right into Joel's stomach and I was pretty proud of myself. I was trying to grab a ball that was rolling toward me that had just hit somebody when suddenly-

_**BANG!**_

I was hit hard directly in the face with a red ball. I fell to my knees from the pain and shock, and reached up to put a hand over my nose. The coach blew his whistle to get everyone to stop. He came over along with Carlos, Logan and a couple other kids.

"Come on," Coach said as he helped me up. He led me over to one of the benches and had me sit down. I moved my hand away so he could look at me. My whole palm was wet with blood. "That looks pretty bad, you should go see the nurse." One kid named Michael handed me a towl, I thanked him and began dapping at the blood running down my face.

"I'll take him," Logan offered. As I stood up I noticed Jett standing there with a smirk on his face. That smirk told me he was the one who nailed me in the face. I felt anger burning inside me and it was really building up. All I wanted to do was run over there and punch that smug look off his face. I knew I would be in serious trouble if I did though, so I just kept walking with Logan. We got to the nurse's office and she had me sit on the little bed. The nurse was an African American woman named Pat, she was a heavy set woman who was really nice.

"Well, it's not broken, but it'll definitely be bruised for a few days and it'll be sore." She said with sympathy. "I'll be right back with pain medication," she said as she left. I gently placed the ice bag she had given me back over my nose.

"At least it's not broken," Logan said and I nodded.

"I'm gonna kill Jett," I said and Logan sighed before sitting next to me.

"Kendall, I know you're mad at him for this and whatever they did earlier today. But you can't go around beating up everyone that makes you mad." Logan said, I removed the ice bag and looked at him.

"Why shouldn't I go find him and pound his face in?" I asked with anger.

"Because if you do, Jett has three guys behind him who will help mess you up, if they don't and you beat him up then the principal will side with Jett and suspend you, Dad will be furious, and when you come back you'll be in the middle of a pointless feud with people who aren't worth it." I hated that Logan was actually right. No matter what, it would all blow up in my face and they would still come out on top.

"Whatever, just go to class and leave me alone." I said and he seemed mad but he kept it to himself.

"I'm serious, Kendall, be smart about picking your battles." He said before he walked out of the room. Pat came back with the medicine and a paper cup of water. I wanted so badly to go find Jett and teach him a lesson, but Logan's words kept going through my mind. He was completely right, there was no way around that.

**After School:**

I decided to walk home instead of going with Logan and Carlos. I just wanted time to clear my head and calm my anger. My nose still really hurt and the aspirin the nurse gave me wore off a little while ago. I finally got to the house and just went straight upstairs. I didn't feel like dealing with Steve or Joanna right now. When I got to the bedroom Carlos and Logan were already in there. They had stopped talking when I walked in and looked up at me. I walked over, dropped my backpack and laid down on the bed.

"Are you still in pain? I can go get you some ice?" Logan offered, I looked over at him and nodded.

"That would be nice," I said and then turned my head again to look at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and heard two sets of foot steps leaving the room. "Hey, do you have aspirin or anything?" I asked and Logan nodded, Carlos was already out of the room.

"Yeah, there's some in a first-aid box under my bed." Logan said and I nodded. I got up and walked over and got on my knees next to his bed. I reached under and pulled out a shoe box. I figured this was it, so I opened it up. Inside it there was a small notebook, some bandage pads and aid-tape, there was some gauze, and then something I didn't expect to see. I realized this wasn't the first-aid box. I pulled out a razor blade and a red stained napkin. I opened the napkin because it felt like something was inside it. I looked toward the door to make sure Logan wasn't coming. Inside the napkin there was another razor blade and that was when I realized the red stuff on the napkin was blood. Was Logan hurting himself? But that's impossible, he never has cuts on his arms. Isn't that where people like him cut? Was he suicidal? Do Steve and Joanna know he does this? Does _**Carlos**_ know he does this? I looked up when I heard someone coming up the stairs. I quickly put everything back in the box the way I found it, put the lid back on the box and shoved it back under the bed. I reached for something different and pulled out a white, plastic box that had 'First-aid" written on the lid in marker. I opened it up and grabbed the bottle of aspirin. I was putting the box back under the bed when Logan walked back in.

"Here, I just put some ice in a zip-lock bag and taped a few napkins on to the bag. I figure it would be easier and less painful then trying to use a hard ice pack." Logan said as he handed me the bag. "Oh, and I got you a glass of ice tea," he handed me a cup. I thanked him and opened the bottle. I got an aspirin out, put it in my mouth and drank some tea to wash it down. I watched Logan walk over and sit down at his desk. I just stared at him, wondering where in the world he could be cutting if not on his arms. Then again, I can't even prove it's his blood. It could be someone else's. But that wouldn't make sense for it to be under Logan's bed. I decided to just worry about it later when I was able to prove more and laid down on the bed. I closed my eyes and before I knew it I was asleep.

**James' POV:**

I hated lying to Kendall, but what was I supposed to say? I couldn't tell him I wasn't at school because I had a bruise on my cheek and my hands were cut up badly. He would get curious and probably come over after school. I figured telling him Dad was sick would keep him away. But tomorrow is Thursday and we're leaving with Suzy directly after school Friday. I know I won't be healed by then, so I would have to lie to everyone. First I have to make up a lie. What would get me a bruise on my cheek and hands cut up? It was driving me nuts as I tried to think of something! I needed something! Anything!

"Ugh!" I groaned as I flopped down on the bed. I heard my dad and his buddies coming in the front door. I hated when his beer buddies were over because they weren't any better than he was. I had spent the day cleaning the trailer and made sure everything was done before dad got home. I even made dinner and left it on a plate in the fridge for him to heat up when he wanted it. I figured there was nothing he could yell at me about now. Well, if he finds out I skipped school he would be yelling. He hated me skipping because he said it made him look like a bad parent. Honestly he really is a bad parent. I would never tell him that though. I listened as the men walked around in the other room and they were talking loudly to each other. None of them knew how to be quiet. I grabbed my Ipod and put my earbuds in. I turned it up until I couldn't hear them anymore. I laid there with my eyes closed and just focused on the music. My hands still hurt pretty bad, especially when I moved my fingers. It really hurt when I was cleaning, but I had to get it done. I wanted to go to the doctor's and make sure I didn't need stitches, but my dad doesn't like me going there when I get hurt. He's afraid they'll find out he's the one doing this. So, I just kept my hands wrapped up in bandages and changed them every couple hours so I could clean the cuts.

I jumped when I felt a strong hand grab my arm and yank me to a sitting position. Dad pulled the earbuds out of my ears and seemed angry.

"I got a call today from your principal! Why weren't you in school?" He asked and I wasn't sure what to say, so I settled on the truth.

"I didn't want people to see my bruise or my hands." I said and he seemed even more angry.

"That was your own fault, don't try to play the victim! You better be at school tomorrow!" He yelled before shoving me back down on the bed. He walked out of the room. The only good thing about his buddies being here was he wasn't nearly as bad. He had only ever hit me once when they were around and it was because I had dropped their snack food they made me get them. Normally he just yells at me and none of them care. I got comfortable again and put my earbuds back in. I turned the music down enough so that I could kind of hear them. I just wanted to be aware of what was going on. It made me feel safer. Safety was a feeling I was began to really miss.

**Well, there it is. I hope it was good, I really think it came out good, but I still would like to hear your opinions. Also, who is proud of Kendall? **

**QUESTION: I'm going to do a chapter for each day of the weekend they are in Jordan Village (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). What I want to know if there is anything you guys would like to see happen? Please keep it appropriate. Like do you want to see a happy moment between any two (or more) people? Is there a certain thing you would like to see them do? Do you want them to either figure out Logan's secret? Or James' secret? I'm open to anything and I'll try to add everybody's suggestions. **

**The next chapter will be about Thursday at school, and then next will be the day they leave. So please start telling me your suggestions. :)**

**Review please! :D**


	10. Covering Up Made Difficult

**This chapter took a little longer to get done, but it's finally here! My family has a lot of junk goin' on right now, but it's gettin' better. So, I've gotten a couple suggestions, mostly they are all the same. So, thank you for those. If there's anything you want to suggest, please let me know, also I do accept anonymous reviews. But, regarding the anonymous review thing, I've gotten some mean ones in the past, so if you're not going to be nice, then don't review. If you don't like my stories, then please don't read them. Thank you. **

**Thank you for the reviews. Also thanks for favorite story/author alerts and story/author follows! It means a lot! **

**Disclaimer: You should know by now. **

**Kendall's POV:**

"Are you riding with us? Or are you walking again?" Logan asked as he poked his head into the bedroom. I was just finishing putting my shoes on.

"I'll walk," I said simply as I stood and grabbed my bag. For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about what I had found under Logan's bed, and it made me mad. I'm not sure why I was mad at him for doing this, but I am. I walked pass Logan and down the stairs. I just wanted to get out of this house. I was mad at everyone in there this morning and I'm not sure why. Carlos and Joanna hadn't done anything, just the thought of them frustrated me. I was just frustrated with no solid cause. I'm just ready to get out of here but I'm honestly not sure where I would go. I can't go home, that was starting to become apparent, I can't go live with any of the rest of the family (not sure I would want to), my friends wouldn't care enough to help me. I just feel stuck with nobody who cares and nowhere to go. I'm stuck, confused, and lost. I stopped dead in my tracks as if somebody had just punched me in the gut. I stood there and stared at the ground. Was that right? Was that _r__**eally**_ how I felt? That can't be right. That was just a random thought. I'm not lost, confused, or stuck. I can't be. But what if I am?

I felt my stomach twist at the idea of it being true. Why did this bother me so much? I've never needed my parents in the past so why does it matter if they don't want me? I've lost friends before and I was a loner for awhile. Why does them not caring bother me? Why am I confused? What am I actually confused about? I realized I still wasn't moving so I shook my head and forced myself to move. I tried to think of anything besides what I had been thinking about. None of that was right. I'm perfectly fine being alone. I don't need anybody else. I can take care of myself just like I have in the past. I'll be fine. I'll be perfectly fine. I heard a rumble sound above me. The sky was getting pretty dark, which made me groan. I knew exactly what that meant. I picked up my pace, wanting to get to the school before it started rainning. It didn't happen. I heard the rain coming across a field near me. Within seconds it was pouring on me.

_Great! Just great! Just what I need! What else is going to feed my bad mood today? I just can't wait to get to school! _I griped inside my head all the way to the school. I got there just in time to put my stuff in my locker and get to class. I walked in just as the bell rang, I took my seat and everybody was staring at me.

"Why are you wet?" Carlos asked from behind me.

"Because I decided to go for a freaking swim! Why do you think I'm wet?!" I snapped at him, he raised his hands in defense and I turned back to face the front of the room. Everyone was still staring at me, but when I glared at them, they turned away from me. The teacher walked in and apologized for being late. I tuned her out as I began doodling in my notebook. After awhile, James came to mind. I looked around the room to see if he was here and my eyes landed on a guy in the back corner of the room, wearing a black hoodie with the hood up and his arms and head on the table. It was James, I was kind of relieved he was here. I needed to talk to him about what happened yesterday. I wasn't sure if Jett and Dak would be mean to him because of what happened, or if they just hated me now. I didn't pay much attention during class, I just wasn't in the mood to do anything right now. I was up and out of the my seat the second the bell rang.

"So, did you take your fish for a walk?" James' voice said beside me, I turned to see him standing there with a smirk on his face. I noticed there was a slight bruise on his cheek, but I didn't think anything of it. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, little advice, don't try it." I said and he chuckled. Jett walked past him and pumped into him harshly on purpose. James didn't say anything, he didn't even look at Jett. After Jett walked away, James looked up at me. "What was that about?" I asked as we began to walk to our lockers.

"Him, Toby, Dak and Kandi called me last night. I don't know what it was about but they were being jerks. I don't know what caused it." He said as I opened my locker. I kind of felt bad.

"Actually, James, it's kind of my fault they did that." I said and he looked up at me.

"I have to go to my locker. I want to know what this is about though. You can tell me at lunch." He said and then walked down the hall. I grabbed my stuff and made my way to my next class. I spent most of class doodling in my notebook. I just wasn't in the mood to pay attention right now. The rest of my morning classes went by the same way. It was finally time for lunch. I got my food and scanned the room looking for James. He was sitting at a table in the corner of the room. There wasn't anyone else sitting with him. I walked over and sat down across from him with a smile. My smile faded when I noticed that both his hands were bandaged.

"What did you do?" I asked, pointing to his hands. He looked down at them and then back up at me.

"My dad's truck broke down, so while he was resting yesterday I worked on it. I got a little banged up I guess." He said with a chuckle, I just laughed a little. "So, what were you going to tell me earlier?" I wasn't really sure what to tell him, so I just decided to tell it from the beginning. I felt a little embarrassed as I told him about how I was worried about him since he wasn't at school. His eyes seemed to light up a little more as I told that part of the story. I was glad he wasn't weirded out by it. I then started to tell him about everyone's comments, and his eyes seemed to darken with a sad look in them. His expression stayed the same even though his eyes seemed to be changing. I couldn't tell what he was feeling as I told him about me blowing up on them. After I was done telling him everything he just kind of sat there and picked at his food.

"Are you okay?" I asked and he nodded, but didn't look up. "James, don't let those jerks get to you." I said and he finally looked up. He was definitely upset, his eyes and facial expression told me that clearly.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, but you didn't have to."

"They shouldn't have been saying those things about you," I said. I felt a little awkward for some reason. He's my friend and I was sticking up for him, this shouldn't be awkward. Maybe it's just because we're surrounded by people.

"Yeah," was all he said. I tried to think of something different to talk about. Anything at all. But nothing would come to mind.

"If your dad feeling better?" I asked and he nodded but didn't say anything. I couldn't help but feel like there was more than just what they said bugging him. But it's not really any of my business, so I didn't ask. We both ate in silence. It seemed like it took forever for the bell to ring, but it finally did. We both cleared our trays and made our way to our next class. The rest of the day dragged by slowly. I was relieved when it was finally over.

"Are you riding home with us?" Logan asked as we made our way out the front doors. I looked up at the sky and it was still pretty dark. It had stopped rainning about half an hour ago. I decided not to chance it.

"Yeah," I said and he nodded as he dug in his bag for his keys.

"Is James okay?" Carlos asked.

"None of your business," I said as I climbed into the car.

"I was just asking, sheesh." He said as he got into the front seat. I stared out the window as Logan drove us home. I honestly didn't know if James was okay, but I wasn't going to pry. If he wants to talk or anything, he has my number. Carlos and Logan were talking about the things they had to do. I had been doing some chores with them, but not nearly as much as they were doing. Normally when Steve was yelling at them he would give them a bunch of crap they had to do. Some of it was stupid and was just him estabilishing his dominance over them. Which was something he liked a lot. He was still trying to show me that he was in charge and I needed to do what he said, but I wouldn't listen. I wasn't going to give in to him though because that's exactly what he wants me to do.

"Kendall, Dad said, this morning, that you have to help us clean the horse stables when we get home." Logan said I rolled my eyes. "Don't get mad at me because of it. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him." Logan said before talking to Carlos again. When we got back to the house, we all went inside to change and then headed out to the stables. The sooner we got this over with the better.

"You don't have to help us clean up after the horses. You can go get some more feed, it's in the loft in the barn." Carlos said, I figured anything was better than cleaning up horse crap.

"I thought the horses ate hay?" I asked and he nodded.

"They will, but Steve went and got a some more feed, and they prefer that to hay. So go grab about four bags of it and put it over there." Carlos said, pointing over to the corner of the building. I made my way to the barn and climbed up into the loft. I found big, brown sacks that had faded printing on the fronts. I figured that was what I was looking for, so I grabbed one. It was a lot heavier than I expected it to be and it took a lot more strength to move it over and throw it to the ground. I did this with three more of them and then climbed down the ladder. I grabbed one and made my way, which felt like a longer trip, back to the stables. I struggled to carry the feed over to the corner and drop it. It took me a good forty minutes to get all four bags where they were supposed to go. I was worn out, tired, sore, sweaty, and out of breath. I sat down on the stack of feed bags and heard laughing.

"You're not gonna be able to make it here in the summer." Carlos said, laughing while he did. I just made a face at him and got up.

"Am I done?" I asked and they looked at each other.

"Yeah, I don't think there's anything else do to. We can finish up here." Logan said, I was relieved. I walked out of the stables and to the house. As soon as I got upstairs I grabbed some clean clothes and went and got in the shower. I was so through with this farm work. It's hard, it makes me sweaty, it makes people stink, and it takes way too long. I went and got into the shower and decided to take an extra long one. I couldn't wait for tomorrow. I would be out of here and away from Steve. It would be better if Logan and Carlos didn't have to go, but as long as they stay out of the way, it'll be fine. As I stood there and just enjoyed the hot water running down my body, my mind drifted back to the box under Logan's bed. It made me mad that I kept thinking about it. It's his life, if he wants to ruin it by being stupid then who I am to stop him?

The water started to run cold, so I turned it off and got out. After drying off and getting dressed, I went back to the bedroom and grabbed my phone. I had a text from James.

**We're leaving directly after school tomorrow. We're suppose to meet Suzy at my house. -James.**

**Alright, I'll let the geeks know. -Kendall.** I sat down on the bed as I sent it. I started to feel that loneliness again as I looked through my past texts. I thought I had a lot of friends, but after about a week of being here, they all left me. I haven't really talked to any of my "friends" from back home. Was I really that terrible? Even Logan, the biggest nerd ever has friends. I sighed and put my phone down as I looked around the room. I guess the only thing I can do now is be friends with Logan and Carlos... Wait! What am I saying? Am I really _**that**_ desperate? If so, then I've hit rock bottom. That was one place I refuse to get to. I grabbed my Ipod and listened to music for awhile. I started to doze off as I layed there. It wasn't long before I was actually asleep.

**Logan's POV:**

Carlos and I had been working outside for about an hour and a half before we finally got done. We were now just sitting on the fence watching the horses run.

"I don't know about you, but I think getting away for the weekend will be a good thing." Carlos said and I looked at him in confusion.

"We're going to be stuck with two people who don't like us. How is that a good thing?"

"Yeah, but we don't have to stay with them all weekend. It'll be nice to get away from Steve and Joanna for the weekend... I think it'll be good for you." Carlos said and I sighed. I knew what he was getting at.

"Carlos, I'm okay, I told you that I can handle whatever he does to me." I said and he sighed.

"I know you say that, but I don't see how that's possible. You definitely get upset when he gets onto you about these things, so why can't you just admit you can't handle it?" He asked, I knew he had my safety in mind. He had been worried about me since the day he found out about what my dad does when we were ten. I have been trying to assure him that I can take care of myself ever since then.

"Carlos, I'm fine," I said and he held his hands up in surrend. I knew he was just letting it go for the time being. He would probably bring it up again over the weekend. "Can we just talk about something else?" I asked slowly and he nodded.

"I think Makaylee is starting to warm up to me. I'm thinking about asking her out." Carlos' cheeks turned red as he talked about her. Carlos was pretty outgoing most of the time, but he was shy when it came to girls he liked. I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I think she's liked you for awhile. She always wants to talk to you and she constantly stares at you in class." I said and he blushed deeper.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think you should just go ahead and ask her. Maybe Monday at school," I said and he seemed nervous suddenly.

"I don't about asking that soon. I mean, I want to ask her soon, but maybe not that soon. I don't even know if she actually likes me. How am I supposed to find out if she likes me?" He started rambling questions which was something he did when he got nervous and started to panic about something.

"Carlos! It's okay, she likes you, it's obvious. Just ask her," I told him and he nodded. He was still nervous, but at least he calmed down a bit.

"Logan!" My dad's voice made both of us jump a little. We turned around and saw him standing about ten feet from us. He looked mad which made me a little nervous.

"Y-yes?" I asked as he walked closer to us. He grabbed my arm and yanked me down off the fence roughly. Carlos sat there looking shocked and scared. I was terrified. My dad's grip was strong and painful and his face was red with anger.

"You got a _**B**_ on your science test!" He yelled as he held the paper up for me to see.

"I know, Dad, but I-" He cut me off by gripping my arm tighter which made me wince.

"No excuses! You're supposed to keep an A or A plus in every subject!" He yelled and I looked down. "Look at me!" I looked back up at him. "You better not get a grade like this again!" He shoved me and I lost me balance and fell to the ground. He began walking away. Carlos jumped off the fence and came to my aid. He helped me up to my feet and was looking me over.

"Are you okay?" He asked as I dusted myself off.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I said, my voice shaking from fear. I looked at my arm where my dad had been holding me. There was a red hand mark and it still kind of hurt.

"Come on, let's go inside and finish packing." Carlos said in a low, caring voice. I was still feeling shakey but I knew I had to get over it before I seen my dad. He would get mad and tell me to man up. I know he will because he always does. Anytime I can't take what he does or says he gets mad and calls me a wimp. When he hits me, he says it's to toughen me up. I always end up feeling like it's all my fault and it would be better if I could be what my dad wants. I just can't be the way he wants though. I wish I could. Maybe then he would stop hurting me in every way possible. All of that is just wishful thinking though. The worst part is that everytime Carlos has to see this happen, he realizes a little more that I can't handle it.

**Well, this chapter probably wasn't very good, but I hope you liked it anyway. Please let me know either in a review or PM if you have something you would like to see happen in the next couple chapters. Even if you don't have a suggestion, please review anyway. :)**

**Also, you can still go "Like" my Ireland Maslow page on Facebook if you would like. A few of you have and I appreciate it. I enjoy talking to everyone. :)**


	11. Jordan Village

**Wow, this one took me a lot longer to write then I wanted, but it is longer. So, this would have been posted last night, but we had bad storms and were under a tornado watch all night. But, it's finally posted. Also, I've had a couple people ask about an OC form for this story. I have a couple ideas for later on that I might use and I might need a couple OCs. But for right now, I don't need any, but I love that you've asked. It makes me feel good knowing you want your OC in my story. But if I decide I need them, I will definitely let you all know. :)**

**Thank you for the reviews/favorites/follows! I'm glad you like this story. **

**I'm not doing the disclaimer anymore. You should already know. **

**Kendall's POV:**

We were currently in our last class of the day, so we were closer to a weekend free from Steve. I looked over at James who was leaning back in his seat while messing with his pencil in his hands. He looked over and raised his eyebrows and sighed. I could tell he was ready to get out of here too. I noticed the bruise on his cheek was mostly gone. I still didn't know how you could bruise your cheek while working on a truck, but I goes anything is possible. I looked back toward the front of the room as the teacher dragged on and on about something I couldn't care less about. When the bell finally rang I was the first one out of my seat.

"Are you guys coming straight to my house? Or are do you have to go get your stuff?" James asked as he caught up with me.

"We put all our stuff in Logan's car this morning so we don't have to go back to the house. So we'll just come straight there." I said and he nodded.

"Alright, I'll see ya there," he said before walking away. This morning had been pretty tense for everyone. Steve spent the morning yelling at everyone over everything. I guess he had to get a weekend worth of yelling in this morning. I was just glad to get out of there this morning. I could tell Carlos and Logan were glad to be out of there too. After getting done, I left the school building and waited by Logan's car. It only took a couple minutes before they were at the car too. We got into the car and made our way to James' house. When we got there Suzy was already in the driveway. We pulled in and James directed us to park in the grass next to the trailer. After getting out we moved all our bags to Suzy's mini-van.

"Well, are we all ready to get gone, boys?" She asked and we all nodded. She motioned for us to pile in, so we did. James rode shotgun, Carlos and Logan claimed the back seat and I sat in one of the middle seats.

"We're gonna stop for gas and I'll get'cha drinks. Mama said she'll have dinner ready when we get there." Suzy said as she started down the road. Suzy began asking us about classes, school work and girls. James was completely different when he was with her than when he was at school. He seemed happier around her. "You're seriously gonna sit there and tell me there ain't no girls you're interested in?"

"I've dated a few girls from school, but none of them are the type of girl I like." James said and Suzy laughed as she shook her head.

"I never though James Diamond had a type. You've always been a ladies man." She looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Even when he was little he was chasing girls. I remember when my cousin's daughter came to stay with me, James loved her. He always would hold her hand and go on walks around the yard with her. It was so cute."

"Yeah, why don't you just tell everyone more "cute" stories of me." James said acting like he was embarrassed. She reached over and ruffled his hair and he swatted her away. He was smiling as he fixed his hair. Logan and Carlos joined in the conversation every once in awhile. After about forty minutes Suzy pulled into a gas station.

"Go on in and get drinks and if you want something to snack on then get it." Suzy said as she handed James some money. We all climbed out and made our way inside. We all grabbed a drink and something to snack on. After paying we went back out. Suzy was still getting gas so we just stood around instead of getting back in. Carlos and Logan were talking about something as they leaned against the van. I looked at James and he had his phone out. He sighed heavily and began typing.

"Everything okay?" I asked, I don't know why I cared. It wasn't my business if something was wrong.

"Yeah, just this chick that won't leave me alone." He said and I chuckled. "What?" He looked at me confused.

"It's just from the way people in school talk about you, I figured you would enjoy all the attention from the ladies." I said and he laughed as he shook his head.

"Well, I do love the ladies, but this one is annoying." He said and I laughed a little.

"She want a little more of James Diamond?" I asked and he laughed.

"Yeah, but she ain't gettin' any." We both laughed as Suzy called for us to get in. After Suzy was in the van we started back down the road. After about another thirty minutes of being on the road it began pouring rain. It was also thundering and lightening.

"I hate driving in the rain," Suzy said as she slowed down a bit. I noticed that Logan and Carlos hadn't made a sound since we left the gas station. I turned to make sure we didn't forget them. They were both there, but were just being quiet. Logan had his laptop out and was quietly typing and Carlos had his phone out and was texting someone. I turned back to the front of the van and watched the windshield wipers move quickly across the glass. Everyone was pretty quiet now. It's not awkward silence it's actually comfortable.

"James, call Mama and ask her if it's rainning there." Suzy said as she handed James her phone. He dialed a number and after a couple seconds began talking to someone. The conversation didn't last very long.

"She said it is, and the local news shows a long line of storms following this one. She said that Hammer would be waiting on us to help us get everything into the house." James told her and she nodded.

"Who's Hammer?" I asked.

"My dad," Suzy explained and I nodded.

"Boots and Hammer?" I said, which caused Suzy and James to laugh.

"Yes, Boots and Hammer," Suzy said.

"Welcome to the country, Kendall," James said with a laugh.

"I thought in the country everybody was named Mary Lou, Bubba, Billy, Billy-Bob. You know, hillbilly names?" I asked and they laughed.

"You need to go a little deeper in to get those kinds of hillbillies. We're just country rednecks." Suzy said and I laughed. James turned in his seat to look at me.

"Just so you know, everyone calls Boots, Mama Boots; and Boots' mom lives next door and she's Granny Gladis. If they consider you a kid, then they want you to call them this. Hammer is just Hammer," James explained and I nodded. It was weird being in the south. Everyone here is much nicer and they just welcome you into their family with no problem. In Los Angeles I couldn't tell you five people who lived in the same apartment building as me. I couldn't even tell you everybody from my school. Out here everyone in town knows everyone else, everyone in school knows everyone else and can tell you their life story, and people just welcome you in with no problem. I guess that's what they call southern hospitality. After awhile longer Suzy slowed down before we got to a big, white house with a large front porch.

"Here we are," she announced as she pulled into the driveway. As she parked the front door opened and large man walked out. He was probably in his fifties, he was about average height and was heavier. We all hurried and got out and to the back of the van. The man came out and grabbed a couple bags and we all piled into the house. There was a beagle laying on the porch who seemed excited to see everyone. The dog followed us into the house and a woman shut the door once we were all in. The woman was short, was heavier, had brown hair that came to her shoulders with a little gray in it, she was probably in her fifties also. Now that I could actually see the man, he had thinning, short blonde hair and for the first time I noticed he was wearing over-alls with a white shirt underneath and dirty boots. The woman was wearing a pink shirt with a plaid shirt that was light pinks and yellows over top of it, she had on jeans and was barefoot.

"I swear, if it keeps on rainnin' like is we gonna need an ark." The woman, who I assumed was Mama Boots, said as she hugged Suzy. "Boy, you sure brought a lot of kids with you this time." She said as she hugged James.

"Hi, Mama Boots," James said as he hugged back. She looked at Logan and put her hand over her mouth.

"Logan Mitchell, is that you? My, you've grown since the last time I seen you." She said and Logan was smiling. Mama Boots wrapped her arms around him and just the way Logan's expression changed made me feel bad. He had his eyes closed and seemed to just enjoy the feeling of someone hugging him. Now that I think about it, since I got here I never once seen anyone touch Logan in a kind way. Well, besides for Carlos. Even though my mom hates me she still hugged me. I kind of missed it. She let go of him and turned to Carlos and I.

"I know this one here, Carlos Garcia, come here baby." She said as she hugged him tightly. After she was done she looked at me. "And who is this handsome young man?"

"I'm Kendall Knight, I'm Logan's cousin." I said and she smiled. She hugged me tightly also and it felt nice. I also complained when my mom wanted to hug me, but I kind of miss being hugged. Mama Boots' hug felt different than other people's hugs. It felt loving and kind. It was strange how one person hug could feel different than anyone else.

"Kendall's been living with my family for the last couple months," Logan explained as Mama Boots let me go. Hammer was greeting the others with handshakes, the only one he hugged with Suzy.

"Well, you're welcome here, sweetie," she said, her hand resting on my cheek. "You kids must be hungry, I have some dinner for you in the kitchen. Come along now," she said as she led us in the kitchen. Hammer greeted me as we walked toward the kitchen.

"Mama cooked up some potato stew." Hammer said as we entered the kitchen. It was larger than I expected. There was a counter with tall chairs, an older stove, a faded, old fridge, the walls were a light yellow and the floors were white tile. It looked pretty much like you would expect a country kitchen to look like. There was a small window over the sink and one on the other side of the room.

"What is potato stew?" I asked James and he smiled.

"It's potatoes, sausage, and green beans cooked in water with salt and pepper." He explained as we sat down at the large, round table. There was a very large black pot sitting on the stove that took up two burners. Mama Boots had a large bowl spoon** (1)** and was putting stew in bowls. She began carrying the bowls to the table and Suzy got everyone a glass of sweet tea. The bowls were full almost to the rim with stew. She also gave each of us a large buiscut.

"Daddy, you wanna say the prayer?" Mama Boots asked as she sat down with her own bowl. I put my spoon back down and folded my hands like everyone else had. I closed my eyes and listened to Hammer as he prayed.

"Lord, thank you for supplying this food for us from your land. Bless Mama for her cookin', and thank you for the kids gettin' here safely. Bless our weekend together and allow us to have great fellowship with each other in our time together. In the Lord's name I pray, Amen." Everyone else at the table said 'Amen' after him. I wasn't used to praying before meals, so it was a little unusual to me. Everyone engaged in their own conversations about how everyone was doing and what they had been up to. I just sat there quielty and ate my stew. I didn't think I would feel out of place here, but I kind of did. I was the only one here who didn't know Mama Boots and Hammer this way. I don't even Logan and Carlos as well as James knows these people. That kind of made me feel out of place since I live with them.

"So, Kendall, where you orignally from?" Hammer asked as he looked at me.

"Los Angeles," I said and he chuckled.

"So you ain't never been out in the sticks have ya?" I wasn't really sure what that sentence meant, but I assumed he meant I hadn't been out in the country.

"Um, no, Sir," I said and he laughed again.

"Son, just call me Hammer. Only time you should be callin' me Sir is if you get'che self in trouble." Hammer told me, I just nodded. I wasn't really sure what to say.

"Hammer, you is scarin' the boy," Mama Boots said.

"Oh, no, that's not it, I'm just not used to-" I cut myself off. Was it rude to say I wasn't used to the way they spoke?

"The way we speak, I get'cha, son," Hammer said as he took a bite of his stew.

"Suzy, I got your old bedroom ready for you to sleep in. Boys, we got two other bedrooms so you is gonna have to bunk with each other. We got a couple old mattress for when we got company on the holidays, so we can make up a couple of them. That way you ain't havin' to share a bed." Mama Boots explained as she got up. "Anyone want seconds?" She asked as she picked up her own bowl. Everyone raised their hand, including me. It was surprisingly good. Mama Boots got everybody seconds and another buiscut.

"These buiscuts are amazing," I told her and she smiled.

"Thank you, baby, I made them from scratch." She said and I nodded. "The stew is made with veggies from last year's garden, they ain't fresh, but they still good. And the sausage is fresh from the farm down town." She said and I nodded.

"You should come back down after Mama harvest stuff from her garden. Ain't nothing better than a fresh meal made with ya own hands." Hammer said and everyone else seemed to agree. After we were finished eating, Suzy and James helped Mama Boots with the dishes. Logan, Carlos and Hammer were talking about different things. I just kind of listened. I looked over and Mama Boots, James and Suzy were talking, laughing and just enjoying seeing each other. When my dad's whole family comes over on the holidays it's never like this. Normally everybody is drunk or fighting, or both. It's never just sitting around talking and laughing. I don't know why the family even bothers to try and get together anymore. Last Christmas it ended in the police being called and my dad's brother being arrested for starting a fight with one of the cousins. Mom's side of the family never comes around anymore. They used to, but some big fight happened when I was five, which is why I haven't seen Logan since then.

**Later That Night: **

"Alright, boys, here are some extra blankets incase ya get chilly." Mama Boots told us as she placed three large blankets on the floor. We both thanked her. James and I were in one room and Carlos and Logan were across the hall. "I'll see ya in the mornin'." She said as she hugged both of us. She left, closing the door behind her. James was messing with the blankets on the bed. We had decided that he would get the bed and I would sleep on the mattress. I discovered it's actually really comfortable as I sat down on it. James sat on the bed and looked at me. The only light in the room was from a lamp on the bedside table.

"Are you okay?" James asked and I nodded and gave him a confused look.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He shrugged.

"You just seemed a little upset during dinner. If something's bothering you, you can tell me. I mean, if you want to." He said and I stared at him before sighing.

"My family is screwed up." That was all I said.

"Why?" He asked, I looked down at the mattress. Did I really want to tell him what was on my mind? I guess it would be better than keeping it in.

"Because they fight constantly, that's why before being sent here I hadn't seen Logan since I was five. They spend a lot of time drunk, they get violent toward each other, they're hateful. I mean, my parents didn't even care that I was leaving. My dad dropped me off in the airport parking lot and drove off after I got my bags. I don't know, I guess seeing how Hammer, Mama Boots and Suzy treat you, it makes me kind of wish my family was that way. Not to get all sappy, but when Mama Boots hugged me, it kind of upset me. My mom used to hug me, but it was never like she did today."

"I know what you mean. Well, in away, I miss my mom's hugs. Her hugs were nice, but since she died, I don't get hugs very often. My dad hasn't been the same since she died." He told me and I felt bad for him.

"I'm sorry about your mom," I said, I wasn't sure what else to say.

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry about your parents. I can't imagine having a mom around, but not actually having her be a mom." He said and I shrugged. It hurt tot hink of it that way, but I couldn't let that show.

"Eh, you get used to it over time," I said and he stared at me like he didn't believe me.

"Do you miss being home?" He asked and I looked down. I had always been told that it was easy to tell if I was lying by my eyes.

"Not really, I mean, why be there if I'm not wanted?" The last part was true. Why should I go back? They couldn't wait to get rid of me. I actually do miss being home, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. My parents don't want me there, so why should I go back?

"I know what you mean. I sometimes wonder why I even bother going home everyday." James said and I stared at him for a moment. "Just forget it," he said and then moved to lay down. I didn't push for him to tell me more. If he wants to talk about it, he'll do it on his own time. It's not my right to push into his life. After James got under the blankets, he reached over and turned the light off. I laid down also and just stared at the ceiling. I just wish that there was some way I could figure out how my parents really feel. If they even want me back home. I guess I always acted out to get their attention. That's how it always was. They never paid attention to me unless they had to. I'm an only child who had a hard time making friends. Did they really think I didn't need their attention? Oh well, I can't change any of that so there's no reason to be laying here whining about it.

I was having a hard time sleeping so I just laid there. I turned from my side, to my back, then to my other side several times. I was now laying on my back again and just staring at the white ceiling. It had a rugged, sponged kind of look to it. I found out that James talks in his sleep also. He says little things every now and then, but I don't really understand what he's talking about. It's more mumbling really. Suddenly he started talking louder than he had been and was moving around a lot. Was he having a bad dream? I sat up and looked over at him. I could barely see him since the only light was from the moon coming in through the window above the bed. Suddenly it got a little worse and he started throwing his arms around. I jumped up and ran to his bedside. Was he okay?

"James! James! Dude, wake up!" I shouted, trying my best to wake him up. His eyes opened and he sat up quickly. I think it took him a moment to realize he was wake. "Dude, are you okay?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, just a bad dream."

"I'd say," I said as I backed up a bit. "Um, do you wanna talk about it? I can go get Suzy or Mama Boots or something." I said and he kind of chuckled.

"No, that's alright, I'm fine. Sorry I woke you up."

"You didn't, I haven't been able to sleep." I said as I walked back over to the mattress.

"Oh, is the mattress not comfortable? We can switch if it'll help." He said and I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just not real tired I guess." I said and he nodded. He started to make himself comfortable again and I laid down also. We laid there in silence for about thirty minutes and I realized that he was still awake. Did his nightmare freak him out that bad?

**Next Morning:**

I wasn't exactly happy when James woke me up for breakfast since I hadn't fallen asleep until about four in the morning. But I got up anyway, got dressed and went downstairs. Mama Boots had made hashbrowns, buiscuts and gravy, sausage patties and eggs. It smelt amazing. We sat down as Mama Boots was putting the jam on the table.

"Good morning," she said as she rubbed my arm. There were glasses of orange juice already next to each plate. We all sat down, Hammer prayed, asking to have a good day today and then we began eating. Everything was amazing. "How did you boys sleep?" Mama Boots asked as she spread jam on a buiscut.

"Good," Carlos said as he looked at Logan who was nodding in agreement. James and I agreed also. Even though I had a terrible night, I wasn't going to tell them that. I didn't want to be rude since they were being so nice.

"So, what do you kids want to do today? Suzy and Mama are going shopping. Do you want to do something different?" Hammer asked as he looked around. Shopping with two women didn't sound like a lot of fun and I could tell the other guys were thinking the same.

"As much fun as shopping sounds, I think we'd all rather do something else." James said causing Mama Boots and Suzy to laugh.

"Alright, we'll go after breakfast and y'all get dressed." Hammer said and we nodded. Logan, Carlos, James and myself were still in our pjs. After we finished eating, we helped Mama Boots clear the table and James did the dishes so that she and Suzy could go get ready. Logan, Carlos and I headed up to get dressed.

"Boys, wear something comfortable," Hammer hollared up the stairs after us. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a graphic tee. I got changed in the bedroom, then went to one of the bathrooms to brush my teeth and do my hair. After we were all ready we waited in the livingroom for Hammer. I noticed a bruise on James' arm. It looked pretty bad. It was hidden a little by his shirt sleeve which was pushed up a bit. I saw him look at me and then down at his arm. I looked back up to his face and he turned to look away from me. He pulled the sleeve down and it came to just under his elbow, covering the bruise completely. If it had just been something that happened from working on a truck or something, he wouldn't be trying to hide it. Oh well, it was probably nothing.

"Alright boys, let's head on out." Hammer said, gesturing toward the door. We all followed him out to his truck. "Y'all can ride in the back, we ain't goin' far." We all climbed into the bed of the truck and Hammer got in the driver's seat. Carlos and Logan sat on one of the truck bed while James and I sat on the other side. Hammer began driving down a dirt path and back into the woods.

"Where are we going?" I asked James.

"Looks like he's taking us fishin'." I had only gone fishing a couple times before and that was when I was younger. I never understood how sitting at the lake for endless hours while catching nothing was fun. After about a ten minute drive back into the woods, Hammer parked near a pond. We all climbed out of the back as Hammer grabbed the fishing poles and tackle box out of the cab. All the stuff we needed was on the passenger side. Hammer handed each of us a fishing pole and he carried the tackle box. The others seemed to know what they were doing which didn't surprise me. I managed to get the hook baited without difficulty but I don't know how to actually fish. I watched James cast out and manged to get mine out also after following what he did. James sat down in the grass along with Logan, Carlos and Hammer. I sat also and watched the water move in the wind. It was kind of peaceful.

After about two hours of sitting by the water I was bored out of my mind. I'm the only person who hadn't caught anything yet. Hammer had caught the most, which wasn't a surprise. Hammer reeled his line back in after checking his phone.

"Mama wants me to do something for her down at the house. You boys can stay here, I'll be back in a bit." He said as he got up. He laid his pole down and made his way to his truck.

"I didn't even think Mama boots and Hammer knew about texting." James said with a chuckle. Nobody said anything else for about twenty more minutes.

"Fishing is so boring," I complained, breaking the silence. I seen Logan roll his eyes which annoyed me.

"Quit whining already," Logan said quietly as he stood up to cast out again, this time farther. I looked at him.

"What did you say?"

"Kendall, just let it go," Carlos said and I stood up to look at Logan.

"No, if he has the guts to say it outloud, then he should have the guts to say it directly to me." I said, he seemed angry.

"I said, 'quit whining already'," Logan told me.

"I'm not "whining" I'm stating the obviously." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"If you hate the country so much, why did you agree to come to Jordan Village? Did you not know it was a backwoods town? All you ever do is whine about everything! I'm getting really tired of it! I wish you would just go back to where you came from!" Logan said with anger in his voice. I moved closer to him and I could tell James and Carlos didn't know what to do.

"Do you think if I could go back home I would still be here?" I yelled and he scoffed.

"Even your parents don't want you around." I knew he was trying to hurt me by saying that, and it worked. I shoved Logan hard which caused him to stumble backwards. He lost his footing and fell backwards into the water. Carlos helped Logan out of the water and Logan was mad.

"Don't take it out on me! You know it's true! You're not wanted so just go somewhere else!" Logan shouted, tears in his eyes.

"At least my dad doesn't beat me, he's actually pretty nice to me! Too bad you can't say the same, Logan! I'm pretty sure you're parents don't want you either!" I yelled, I didn't care what I said, I just wanted to hurt him. I was so ticked off right now. I saw the hurt on Logan's face and knew I had won. Logan turned and stormed away quickly. Carlos gave me an angry look before chasing after Logan, calling his name. James walked up to me, he looked shocked.

"Kendall, that wasn't cool." He said and I looked at him.

"Why do you care?" I asked in anger.

"If he's really being beaten then you need to back off!" James said in anger and I stared at him. Why was he mad? He called them nerds and geeks before. Hammer's truck came into view and as soon as he got close enough, he got out.

"What happened? I just seen Logan and Carlos heading back to the house. I tried to get them to come with me, but they wouldn't. Logan was soaking wet and was upset." Hammer said, seeming concerned.

"Logan and Kendall got into an arguement." James said, looking at me. I knew he was giving me the chance to fess up myself instead of him telling on me. I sighed.

"And I pushed him into the water." I said and Hammer seemed mad and disappointed.

"Help me gather this stuff up and we'll head back to the house. Now," Hammer said in a demanding way. We did what we were told and then got into the bed of the truck.

"Mama ain't gonna be happy about this." Hammer said as got in. I started to feel bad that I possibly just ruined everybody else's weekend.

**Okay, I know Boots and Hammer are odd names. But I have an Aunt Boots, my sister's old boss' husband's name is Hammer and he's a great guy. Also, my great grandma who passed away about seven years ago was named Gladis and everyone (whether you were her grandkid or not) called her Granny Gladis. Anyway, the next chapter is gonna be angst filled so be prepared. I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you get why Kendall gets so physical with Logan whenever he mentions Kendall not being wanted. I've tried to make it obvious. Also, I hope you understand why James didn't like the way Kendall was treating Logan. I think I made it clear enough. Anyway, I hope you liked it. :)**

**And anything I update on here I instantly post a link on my Facebook page. So if you want to know when I update as soon as I update, please go "Like" my Ireland Maslow page. Also, I post random stuff too. :)**

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